


My Attachment to You isn't Subject to Change

by gayofthewild



Category: Moominvalley (Cartoon 2019), Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson
Genre: Adventure, Building Friendships over time, F/F, F/M, Flower Crowns, Found Family, Good Parent Joxaren | The Joxter, Good Parent The Mymble, Gremlin Lilla My | Little My, Little My also has paws and a tail, M/M, Mild Language, Robin Hood AU, Royalty AU, Slow Burn, Snorkmaiden is beautiful, Snufkin's robin hood because I can't get enough of those aus, Snusmumriken | Snufkin Has Paws and a Tail, Stargazing, That's just a given, Wanderlust, We love snorkmaiden in this house, close friendships, drama queen moomintroll, he's so dramatic, im very upset that that's not a tag, like three or four, prince AU, supportive friendships, takes place over a few years, they use The Groke like we use omg, they will sooner or later sing all small beasts should have bows in their tails, this is my first (serious) fic so I don't know if it's any good at all but I'm trying, very slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-02-19 10:57:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22609828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gayofthewild/pseuds/gayofthewild
Summary: I have learned your heart and memorized the tune; It's my favorite, sing it on every occasion- Forever & Always, Zeph--------A hopeful prince up north afraid of growing up and disappointing the ones around him if he chases his wanderlust and a young wayfarer down south without a home to call his own running from his criminal activity. When the two meet out of misunderstanding, they change a kingdom full of family and heart completely.
Relationships: Everyone & Everyone, Joxaren | The Joxter/Mymlan | The Mymble, Lilla My | Little My & Snusmumriken | Snufkin, Lilla My | Little My/Snorkfröken | The Snork Maiden, Muminmamman | Moominmamma/Muminpappan | Moominpappa, Mumintrollet | Moomintroll & Snorkfröken | The Snork Maiden, Mumintrollet | Moomintroll/Snusmumriken | Snufkin, Mymlans dotter | The Mymble’s Daughter/Too-ticki | Too-Ticky
Comments: 18
Kudos: 73





	1. Fears, Tell Me Fears

**Author's Note:**

> the chapter title is from the song Oh Klahoma by Jack Stauber 
> 
> so, I've never done this before so I hope this doesn't end up like shit 
> 
> 𐩲⭛𐩲 - Snufkin  
> ꠶⭜꠶ - Moomintroll

The land of Moominvalley was a beautiful place. Hidden away from the rest of the world behind mountains and thick forests filled to the brim with wonderful creatures, the bubbling trade city of Moominvalley held one of the richest castles in the North. It was well known around the area for being a home to the unusual and unseen, but barely known in the south at all, mostly due to the large expanse of land separating them and the much larger kingdoms inhabiting the land. 

The people of Moominvalley were all a prosperous, happy bunch. The city below, covered by trees and rivers, was always lively. Small creeps and forest animals lived in the trees and bushes, making the forest a hubbub of noise, while the floor was inhabited by hardworking Hemulens and poised Fillyjonks. Meanwhile, the rolling hills of the valley were covered with dirt roads leading to offices and markets; tall buildings housing noisy children and small shops showing off old expensive collectibles. 

On top of the largest hill was Moomincastle, a home open to all in need of a warm place to sleep and food to fill their stomachs. Guards were few in number, and were mostly only there to protect goods and riches. Instead, King Moominpapa and Queen Moominmama were friendly folk who opened their arms to everyone. 

To someone from the south, their kindness might be taken for lies and trickery, but to the people who lived in the warm-hearted valley, they knew that the trade city was anything but. 

And as people from the north, they didn’t see the under workings of the south and its own small town burglar. 

𐩲⭛𐩲

The city air was cold and damp. The awakening of fall was heavy over the tall and short buildings, and the people with thin blankets were suffering from the sudden change of weather. While people were cold and sick in the lower portions of the city, the rich aristocrats of the nobles bragged about their trade and money like everything was fine. An infamous young boy, however, just wouldn’t have it. 

His shoes hit the ground in a vicious slap, his breathing labored and heavy- heavier than the bag in his hands, filled to the brim with luxuries few could afford. The scarf wrapped tightly around his mouth and nose made it so much harder to breathe, but if he stopped to calm down, he would certainly be caught by the Hemulens behind him. 

The alleyway was covered with puddles the boy had to quickly dodge, lest he tripped and dropped the bag. His movements were laggy, and he thanked the Groke that Hemulens were slow creatures. 

“Get back here, thief!” One old guard cried. “Give back the kingdom their jewels!” 

Funny, the boy thought to himself. Looked more like the royal family’s money than the entire kingdom’s. His head was pounding with thoughts of how he saw the royals treat their people, and he knew this was the only way to get back at them. He couldn’t slow down, no matter how much his paws ached or how exhausted he felt. 

His legs were growing numb from all the running, and right when he thought he had lost his way, the boy saw the bustling main road. Quickening his pace, he hid the bag between his arms and held his head down- hat covering his face. Finally busting through the crowd, he ran against their flow- bumping into everyone. Distant cries of “Hey!” and “Watch it!” were ignored, as the boy had a mission he didn’t intend on stopping. 

Small grunts and yells from a ways behind him showed that the guards had lost him in the crowd. The boy smiled to himself in pride, still making at a quick pace to make sure they couldn’t catch up. Only when the crowd of the market thinned out did he slip back into an abandoned alley to finally slow down. 

His back to the grimy wall, he slid until his rump hit the ground. “Oh, Groke, that was a pain.” he panted, letting the bag slip from his paws. He pulled the scarf down and took in a big gulp of city air. The sounds of the market place were quieter so far in the alley, and the boy was thankful for it. 

Gaining his breath back, he let the string around the bag pull loose. Inside sparkled beautiful gems that only the ocean could best. From sapphires to gold, he had stolen many irreplaceable valuables and he didn’t feel the least bit sorry. The old hag of a queen was so cold hearted that one could believe she was the Lady of the Cold in disguise. The boy wrapped the jewels back up and took a few more minutes to let his body relax before getting up and walking his way through the alleys. 

The further down the boy went, the worse the smell and visuals got. Many buildings were run down, broken apart into crumpled brick walls. The grotesque stench was horrid with illness in the air, and if you listened close enough, you could hear the soft coughs of the ill in their cold homes. 

It took him only a few days to wrap his head around the kingdom’s sewer and street systems. Took him only a few hours to realize that the south was far too harsh for him anymore. Took him even less to figure out he had to do something about it. 

Although his paws throbbed in protest of his moving, he made his trek to one of the houses close to the kingdom border and softly knocked on the door. “Miss Mymblie,” He called out. “Miss Mymblie, it’s me.” 

Soon after, the boy heard heavy footsteps rushing to the door. 

It creaked open to show a young and tired Mymble woman on the other side. “Oh, mister Robin Hood, sir. Thank Groke you made it.” Miss Mymblie opened the door fully, allowing him to make his way inside. “Please, please, do come in,” She ushered. 

He nodded to her silently and made his way inside. The kitchen he had entered was dirty from lack of use and two Mymble children were wrestling on the ground, covered in mud. They regarded him in passing, their tails swishing dust his way before continuing what they were doing. 

The door closed and Miss Mymblie came from behind him to grab his paw and pointed to a door in the corridor. “He’s in there, sir, where I last left him.” She led him to the aforementioned room, opening the door as quietly as possible. 

Inside the small room were three beds- since this Mymble was so young she only had three children to take care of for now. On one was a small Mymble boy, panting softly in his sleep with water at his side and a warm washcloth on his forehead. The boy with the bag clicked his teeth together in worry as the young child’s mother rushed to his side. “I’m afraid since your last visit, Young Mymb has only gotten worse. I’ve started worrying that maybe what you’ve gotten from the kingdom won’t be of any use at this point, mister Robin Hood.” The young mother wrapped her paw around her son’s- her lip trembling. 

The boy with the bag came over to put a comforting paw on the woman’s shoulder. “Miss, please wait.” He whispered, “You might just be surprised.” 

Miss Mymblie grabbed the bag with a wobbly paw, taking the string off slowly to reveal the glistening gems and gold. She put a hand to her mouth and choked out a sob. Her shoulders shook with a new vigor, bringing life to her solemn form. “O-oh, mister, thank you. Thank you. W-with this, we could afford the best doctor in the kingdom,” she murmured, awe in her voice.

The boy nodded once more, crossing his arms loosely with a smile. “My only request is that you share the rest of the money to the other poor families here that have come across this terrible cold. They need this bag’s help just as much as you do.” 

“Of course, sir, of course.” The woman choked out another sob, a small smile spreading across her cheeks. “The rumors really are true. You really are the saviors of us poor folk.” 

“No, no,” The boy said. “I just do things anyone could.” 

“Nonsense,” Miss Mymblie spoke. She crumpled the bag in her paws, rubbing snot on her sleeve. “The south is lucky to have you, sir.” 

The boy shook his head, disagreeing with her strongly. “If you ever need my help again, just call my name.”

The Mymble took a large sniffle. “D-do you mean your pseudonym or your true name?” 

The boy opened the door softly for the sick child resting, his back to the Mymble. “Being true to others is important, after all.”

“And what exactly would that be?” 

“No one knows,” he said. Snufkin closed the door. 

꠶⭜꠶

“Catch me if you can, losers!” Little My yelled, leaping into the forest. 

“Not fair, Little My!” Snorkmaiden laughed, running after the girl excitedly. 

Sniff howled out, “P-please wait for me! Oh, dear!” 

Moomintroll could only laugh as his friends chased after Little My in a frenzy as he put peanut butter and jam on his toasted bread. Today was the first day of spring, and while the nip of winter was still at their ears, the groups decided that today was the perfect time to have a picnic a little ways away from the border of the kingdom. They had invited Alicia, but the girl was very busy with her magic studies. 

Moomintroll sat his butterknife down and closed his jars before taking a large bite of his lunch. He watched his friends chase each other in a mock game of tag through the wood, enjoying the sun beaming on his fur and the taste of his mother’s jam. Once he was finished with his sandwich and realized the others were still running around the trees, he started making his friends’ sandwiches. 

Sniff loved honey and jam together- Moominmama had to constantly stop him from putting honey and jam on anything. And while Little My liked downing bread whole, she really enjoyed mayonnaise, pickles, and ham. Snorkmaiden shivered at the thought of eating those things together, and so she enjoyed lettuce, tomatoes, and other vegetables- since Snorks were strict herbivores, unlike Moomins. 

Sniff landed on the picnic blanket with Little My on his back, startling Moomintroll out of his stupor. Sniff sighed languidly, “M-Moomintroll! Little My made me run around the woods too fast and now I feel sick!” 

Moomintroll raised an eyebrow, hiding his smirk behind his snout. “You could’ve just said no, Sniff.” He put Little My’s sandwich down just to watch her snatch it and chomp down without hesitation. 

“Oh, no, I couldn’t!” He cried out. “She would’ve hit me.” 

Snorkmaiden let out a snort, sitting down across from Sniff and Little My. “Please, like she would waste her time when she could be setting fire to people’s newspapers.” Little my let out a cackle, pointing to Snorkmaiden with a vicious grin before taking another bite. 

Sniff covered his eyes with his hands, letting out a whimpered, “Oh…” 

The group of friends ate their sandwiches- with a little bit of guacamole the Snork had made for them- in as much peace as one could get with Little My around. Snorkmaiden talked about her last outing with Ninny, Alicia, and Mymble Junior- at which Little My gagged at. Sniff complained about how Stinky had thrown Hattifattener seeds in front of his house a few days ago, resulting in him being shocked. Little My only threw herself off his back in laughter. Moomintroll talked about his father’s last daring story- it was just like all the other stories of the Oshun Oxtra. After awhile, they ran out of things to talk about and decided to pack up. 

Snorkmaiden grabbed all of the jars and boxes and put them all back in the basket, where Little My shoved and sorted everything. Sniff stood by and played with some bugs on the ground with a stick while Moomintroll folded the blanket into a perfect square- just the way his mother taught him. Snorkmaiden carried the basket and blanket, Little My on her shoulders, with Moomintroll and Sniff trailing behind them. 

The forest of Moominvalley was glorious. Moomintroll had never been anywhere but the valley, so he was quite biased- it was just that the leaves and the grass grew in such a way that made you never want to look away. Even when night had fallen and all was as quiet as it could get with the Mymble children around, the forest was covered head to toe with fireflies that would light your way if you ever stumbled. The warmth of the valley always won over people’s hearts- it won over his parents when they had built the house. Captivated the vagabonds and traders to stay and build a kingdom alongside Moomintroll’s parents. The beautiful heat of it all just wrapped you in it’s arms and made you think of home. 

River sounds trumped around in Moomintroll’s ears- alerting them to the upcoming bridge and town ahead of them. No matter how much he adored the forest surrounding his home, the break out of the wood was always his favorite. 

The look of happy villagers and growing crops among a bundling trade center hidden away by mountain and trees was always breathtaking. It made his tail twitch in excitement and his hands clench around the air. 

When you looked past the city, you could see Moomincastle on it’s famous hill. Moominpapa and Moominmama had built a house here with no intention of it becoming a happy city, but with his father’s amazing charisma and his mother’s wit, they made the perfect pair. The blue house they originally made was still standing- with it’s red roof and tall frame- but the larger the Moomin city became, so did the family. At first, whenever someone new came, Moominpapa would make them rooms in the house, so they had to branch out. After awhile, the house became a castle and there were fifteen large rooms per floor. Moominpappa just decided that making the people homes was a much easier task. 

And so that’s what he did. Almost every home in the city was built by his father. However, when his back started taking a toll on him with all his hard work, Moominpapa made a team of house builders so everyone had a chance at comfortable living. 

“Moominmama!” Snorkmaiden waved at his mother, who was having a nice chat with the Mymble in her garden. Little My grabbed the basket and blanket from the other girl before hopping down. Once she was gone, Snorkmaiden went to go chat with the older women- probably about love affairs with the local boys and girls. Little My ran off to do Groke knows what, but not before letting out a cackle when throwing the items at Sniff. 

“I’m feeling very bullied today,” He grumbled. 

Moomintroll pat his back. “Don’t worry. You’ll get used to it eventually.” 

Sniff and Moomintroll made their way inside the castle. The original house was where the royal family lived, so they went that way. When you first entered, it didn’t look like much- just a normal home- but when you looked to your left, there was a long and large corridor that ended in a staircase going to the next floor. One of the doors was opened and, when Moomintroll listened close enough, he could hear Ninny giggling to one of her adoptive mothers, Mymble Junior. 

Sniff walked over to the kitchen to drop off the picnic items, and Moomintroll saw this as a means of escape from his younger brother. He quietly ran up the stairs to his room on the third floor, his feet scampering as a hope that Sniff wouldn’t catch up. 

When he made it to his room, he shut the door, locked it, and opened up the doors to his balcony. The walls next to the doors were covered in thriving vines, small flowers blooming on them as a way to welcome spring. One of the vines fell down and tickled his nose, making him laugh lightly. He would keep them open for Snorkmaiden, or maybe Little My, depending on if she felt like making the climb. Snorkmaiden mostly climbed the vines as a way to be dramatic, but Little My liked it because of the thrill. 

Moomintroll chuckled at the thought of the girls before going over to his desk to write more of his story. It was the love story between a young princess and a rigid thief, both fated to never be together, no matter how much they wanted to. Recently, Moomintroll had fallen out of love with the story- if he was ever in love with it in the first place-, but he kept trying to push himself into writing it because he didn’t like the thought of giving up- something his father never did. 

Hours passed of just Moomintroll scribbling in the margins of his papers and chewing on his pen. Before he knew it, Misabel was at his door announcing that dinner was done and in the main hall. Moomintroll put his pen down and sighed. Groke, how was he ever going to finish this story? If he wanted to be as good of a king as his father one day, he had to make a story just as great as his, right? With his head in his hands, Moomintroll sat and thought for long about father’s achievements. When he knew it got too late, he rubbed his fur in all directions and stood up, making his way to the great hall on the second floor via the castle entrance. 

Inside, his parents sat at the head of each side of the table, while Junior, Ninny, Snorkmaiden and her brother, Sniff, Little My, and many others occupied the other seats. Moomintroll sat next to his father, like every other night. The meal tonight wasn’t prepared by Moominmama, but instead by the kitchen staff- consisting of Mrs. Fillyjonk, Misabel, and two Hemulens that joined the village a year ago or so. It was alright, not as good as his mother, but it passed quite well for a royal meal- just not a Moomin royal meal. 

“And then Alicia decided that blowing up the boulder was a lot better of an idea than trying to push it,” Ninny said. 

Snorkmaiden chimed in, “Oh, yes, and we all wondered how she would make it explode.”

“Well,” Ninny said, packing up the suspense. “Turns out witches aren’t just good for pranks, but are also pretty solid at getting people out of caves via exploding rock.” 

“By the Groke’s nose,” Moominmama laughed. “You girls sure are creative, aren’t you?” 

“Creative and charming, they say,” Snorkmaiden beamed.

“Oh, yeah?” Little My teased, stabbing a steamed carrot so hard that the plate let out a scared screech. “Said who? The blind creep down the road?” 

“Little My!” Snorkmaiden blushed. “At least my face doesn’t look like I had too many lemons!” 

The small Mymble snickered. “Be careful, Snorkmaiden, or else all that pretentious energy will build up in your head and shoot out that big nose of yours.” The girl flicked the Snork in the snout with her fork before crunching the carrot between her teeth. 

“Now, Little My,” Moominmama calmly let out, taking a sip of tea. “Don’t make me grab the tea pot.” 

The Mymble huffed, her eyebrows scrunched up in defiance, but she sat down anyway. 

The rest of the dinner went by without a hiccup- well, besides Sniff letting out a shriek of terror when Little My bit his tail out of boredom. When dinner was finished, everyone who came either went to their rooms in Moomincastle or to their own homes in the village. Snorkmaiden came by to tell him that she would be by soon, but Little My was going to be too busy pranking the poor mailman to make it. The troll was fine with this and told her goodbye for now, making his way back into the royal house. 

Moomintroll’s parents had made their way back before him, as they were sitting on opposite couches. Moominmama was knitting another pair of wool socks for one of the Mymble children, who had lost them in a bush to a snake. Moominpapa was reading over one of his memoirs when Moomintroll strolled in. 

“Moomintroll, my boy!” His father beamed, patting the spot next to him. “Come here, I need to talk to you for a second.” 

“Of course, papa.” Moomintroll sat next to his father, looking at him expectantly. 

The older Moomin sat his book down, turning to his son. “So, I understand that you’re turning older, and-”

“Papa, I’ve already had the talk-”  
“No, no! Oh, heavens, no, boy, that’s not what I’m talking about at all.” Moominpapa looked mortified. “No, what I’m saying is, that there’s a very big shipment coming from the south at the end of next week, and since, you know.” His father cleared his throat into his fist. “Sooner or later, you’ll take over as king-”

Moomintroll’s ears went back. “Right, of course.”

“I just thought it would be a good idea if you came with me to the docks to oversee it.” Moominpapa shuffled around on his rump. “And this is only a suggestion. If you don’t want to-”

Moomintroll’s ears came back forward, but they only clamped to his head in worry. “No, no, of course I’ll go. Practice is good, it’s what I need.”

After searching his eyes, his father relaxed and beamed out a glorious smile. “That’s amazing, my boy! Make sure you have yourself all tidied up and with your crown on when the time arises.” 

Moomintroll could only smile back. “Of course, papa.”

Moominpapa patted his shoulder with pride. “Right; now, why don’t you go get some sleep, eh? Rest those young bones of your’s!” 

Letting out a laugh, Moomintroll got up and went up the stairs. “Good night, papa, mama. I love you both.” 

“We love you, too, son!” His father called. 

“Don’t let the creeps bite, dear.” His mother soothed. 

Moomintroll scurried up the stairs, grabbed his doorknob, and entered as fast as he could. He closed the door and slid down to the floor.  
With his ears back, all he could say was, “Oh, Groke.”

Moomintroll sat there, unable to do anything but think and sigh- he was so dreadfully worried that he was going to mess up. That if he said one wrong thing, then Moominvalley’s chance at trade with the south would be completely ruined. His father would look foolish for raising such a boy, and the only thing his mother would be able to do was rub his back and say, “Oh, dear.” He knew his parents’ wouldn’t blame him- that they would hug him tight and tell him that they’ll get other trade routes with other southern kingdoms. 

But the damage would be done. 

A small knock on his balcony door awoke him from his fretful stupor. He looked up to see Snorkmaiden waving at him through his slightly fogged up window doors. Moomintroll got up quickly, making his way over to his friend in a haste. 

“Moomintroll!” She said excitedly when he opened up the room. “Pleasure seeing you here,” She joked. 

Moomintroll let out a laugh and let the girl inside. He knew for a fact that she saw him huddled in a ball, head in paws, but he also knew that Snorkmaiden had a wonderful patience for him and would cheer him up to the best of her ability until the feelings boiled over. 

She sat on his queen size bed, and bent over the edge to grab a jar of pudding and a spoon Little My had hidden away for a snack. She popped the lid open and took a bite before speaking. “So, how was your day?” 

Moomintroll let out an amused huff, sitting down next to her and grabbing his own spoon from under his bed. “Well, you were there for most of it, so.” 

“Oh, yes, I guess that’s true. Well, should I tell you about yesterday?” 

“You already told us about the adventure you had with the other girls, though,” Moomintroll said, slurping down pudding. 

“Well, yeah,” She rolled her eyes. “But, I’m talking about the other yesterday, duh.” 

Moomintroll raised a brow, but still nodded with a smile. “Oh, right, duh.” 

“Okay, so, I wake up right?” Snorkmaiden gestured with her hand before taking another bite of pudding. “I get ready, look like an absolute gem, and I go out to town because Snork just loved the thought of not getting any food or soap for a week.”

“You could have just taken from us.” 

The Snork rolled her eyes once more. “Yes, but my brother has already taken up your entire basement for his inventions; we couldn’t possibly take more.”

Moomintroll let out a huff. “Okay, then, continue.”

Snorkmaiden snapped back into her story with a short jolt. “So, I’m at the market, and when I’m grabbing the avocados for Snork’s guacamole, the vendor asks me out on a date. I’m not as flabbergasted as I would have been a few years ago, but I do put on a show because this was the finest looking Toffle I have ever seen. But then, his sister comes out from the back, looks at me, then asks me out as well! I was so shocked by the turn of events that I barely noticed when they started squabbling. And hopefully they were too busy fighting over me to see me sneak an avocado or two for free.” Snorkmaiden winked at Moomintroll mischievously, taking another bite of the butterscotch pudding. 

The boy gaped out, “Snorkmaiden! Really?!” 

Snorkmaiden let out a snort, nodding her head in quick succession. “Yes, I did! And you know what I did with it?” She made it sound so innocent and evil at the same time. 

Moomintroll giggled in the back of his throat, saying, “What?” 

“Remember that guacamole we had today for lunch?”

The Moomin gasped loudly, slapping a hand down on Snorkmaiden’s shoulder with a hearty laugh. “Oh, Snorkmaiden, you didn’t!” 

The girl nodded once more in a fit of laughter. “You looked so pleased with that stolen food today, it was hard to keep my laughter in check!”

“At this rate, you and Little My will become partners in crime!”

“Who says we haven’t already?” 

The two let out a few more laughs about the avocados before becoming content to just sit there and eat pudding. When Moomintroll found he had gotten his fill, he fiddled with his spoon while Snorkmaiden finished up the jar. The two put the spoons back in the jar and under the bed. The two shared stories and jokes together until Snorkmaiden said it was time to go back to her room. 

She stood up and stretched, letting out a sigh when her back popped. “It was fun hanging out with you again, Moomintroll. I’ll see you later, yeah?” 

Moomintroll nodded, but hesitated. His brows furrowed and Snorkmaiden took it as the invitation to wait. After a second of contemplation, Moomintroll said, “Actually, I had a talk with Papa, and he said that I new shipment from the south was coming in.”

Snorkmaiden beamed. “Oh, that’s wonderful! I hope we get some of their exotic vegetables! We rarely have potatoes anymore, it would be amazing to have another batch.”

“Yes, but he wants me to go with him.” 

“Oh.” Her shoulders slumped, seeing his ears turned back and his voice solemn. “Well,” she says, contemplating. “How about we have a really big adventure with our friends the day or so before? Adventures always make you feel better.” 

Moomintroll stared at the floorboards for a second before letting out a huge smile. He grabbed his friend’s paws and squeezed. “Oh, thank you, Snokrmaiden! We haven’t had a big adventure in so long, I can’t wait!” 

The Snork laughed and squeezed back. “Of course, Moomintroll. Anything for you.” She let go of his paws, going to the door. “Expect giving up my beauty sleep.” She winked as she closed his bedroom door behind her. 

Moomintroll jumped up and down, excited for his new adventure. He had no idea what Snorkmaiden was planning, but he was pumped. Ever since he got older, his royal duties had gotten more serious, so now, at the ripe age of twenty-one, Moomintroll didn’t get much of a chance for daring adventures. 

That night, Moomintroll went to bed with a tail twitching with excitement.


	2. These Wild Oceans Shake What's Left of Me Loose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is from the song Neptune by Sleeping at Last
> 
> this chapter is p long and seems irrelevant but it will come back to bite Moomintroll in the ass
> 
> I also made a spotify playlist for all of the chapter titles, but only for the chapters that i have a grasp on rn, so like 13   
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Epm3UdSLWzVl00rm1CPeN 
> 
> and please keep in mind that none of this is beta'd and google docs has a horrible spellcheck

꠶⭛𐩲

Quickly after getting the poor people of Ol Meadow Castle the money they needed for the cold, Snufkin left. 

He went through the woods in the direction towards the coastline of the south, spending his days fishing, spending his time with nature, and figuring out his next move. He had helped many folk in his short twenty-three years of living- going as small as money theft to as big as pushing a liberation. Some would say that he had too much time on his paws, but he was one to greatly disagree. One could never have too much time. 

Sometimes, when Snufkin was planning his next heist, all he could feel were the eyes of the creeps around him. Other times, he could hear them whispering to one another about the infamous Robin Hood and how lucky they were to see him in the flesh. 

No one knew his true name. Maybe his adoptive parents from many years ago did, but it was so unlikely that the mumrik didn’t even want to think about it. 

Snufkin was always on the move, however, so the whispers would always cease- at least for a day or two. He would wake up, walk, set camp, fish, eat, sleep, and repeat. It was a never ending cycle of moving- always moving- and he was completely fine with it. Sooner or later, he would reach the coastline and be able to find a castle among the waves- but those were just rumors; rumors he wished were true. 

The day of finding the beach, Snufkin woke up. For him, waking up was never a slow, growing process. It was always fast. One second, he was dreaming of open fields filled with flowers, and the next, all he saw was the green of his tent. He was fine with it, however. It made things interesting. 

Snufkin made his way through his routine of packing up his tent and any strewn about supplies, and started walking. While Snufkin enjoyed the sound of nature in all of its glory, he felt the very strong urge to play his harmonica. When he pulled it out and cupped it in his paws, he played a soft yet joyful tune. He swayed with the fall trees, danced with the flowers, and hummed with the few bees left in the growing cold weather in a beautiful symphony. He continued playing his vigorous tune until the smell of seawater hit his nose. 

When he started walking faster, so did the tune. They ran together through the forest in a wonderful metaphor, chasing one another- only slowing down when Snufkin broke through the treeline to see a ship having cargo being tossed on. 

Snufkin put a halt to his song, putting the harmonica back into his pocket as he made his way towards one of the traders. 

“Excuse me, sir,” Snufkin put on his politest voice. 

The male Too-Ticky turned around, his rat like tail whipping behind him in surprise. “Oh, hello, young one. What do ya need?” Snufkin was put off slightly by his very heavy accent at first. Must have come from the Too-Ticky kingdom directly. 

Snufkin tilted his hat up so he could see the man face to face. “I was just wondering where this ship was going. It seems like an awful lot for one ship to carry.”

“Well, this ship is actually goin’ up north,” The Too-Ticky said, rubbing his hairy chin in thought. “There’s a very rich kingdom that is big on trade. They’ve started openin’ themselves to the south a few years ago, so our Queen decided that it would be a good idea to see what the northerners has to offer that the south doesn’t.” 

Snufkin stood there in thought. The south was always his largest concern, being that he was found there. He had never really sat down and thought about the north outside of very short passing. But the thing with rich kingdoms in the south was that they were always hiding the poorest of commoners. If the same thing was happening in the north and no one was trying to put a stop to it- him included- then he was no better than the corrupt government. He would never forgive himself if something horrible happened to his northern brothers and sisters. 

But he had never left the south before. He had heard many rumors about the Lady of the Cold who loved to frequent there, and of devilish creatures that would hide in the trees and never leave you alone. Horrible creatures those things were. What if a kingdom was run by them? Those poor villagers. And what about the kingdoms who needed an overthrown government? The north didn’t have a Robin Hood. The north needed one, though. 

The south would be fine without him for a short moment. 

“Is it alright if I catch a ride up north? I’ve been meaning to go on foot, but it’s a very long way around.” 

The Too-Ticky gave him a bright smile. “Of course, lad. No harm in lettin’ ya come, too. The more, the merrier, mum always said.”   
Snufkin couldn’t agree less. 

𐩲⭛𐩲

Snufkin wasn’t keen on maritime adventures on such a large boat. 

Since so much of the ship was used for luggage storage- no matter how much trade this city allowed, no one ever needed this much- there wasn’t much room for everyone else. The Too-Ticky- who Snufkin found out was named TickTroll- was the main trader for the Too-Ticky crew, so he got the captain's cabin. Everyone else, however, was stuffed into overly cramped rooms. Snufkin opted for sleeping in the hull with the large crates of trade items. Much better company, if he said so himself. 

The only times anyone saw the mumrik was when he was fishing up on the deck or on the figurehead. Not many of the crew mates came up to talk to him, but when they did, he would make small talk until they decided he was too boring to talk to anymore. Snufkin was very happy for the small amount of alone time the people on the ships would give him. As much as Snufkin loved the ocean with all of his heart, it was currently being ruined by the sea shanties the Too-Tickies would sing to one another over and over again. 

He would offer to play them a tune, but he had never played in front of another person before, so he had no idea if he was even any good. He hoped he was, or else he was insanely tone deaf. 

Snufkin did what he always did on the ship. He got up, got dressed, fished for several hours, played a quiet tune to crates full of Groke knows what, ate, then went back to bed. It was like he couldn’t escape a routine when he had the opportunity to make one. 

The old rod was very worn down and there were indents of his fingers on the wood. He has had to get a new string so many times in his life that he couldn’t count it on any of his paws. But, never once did he ever get a new rod. This is the one he stole from a sleeping prince out on a trip, this is the one that he learned how to fish with, the one he caught his first trout with. Snufkin wasn’t much for material possessions at all, but this was one of the few things he would always cherish. 

The sky was partly cloudy that day, letting the northern sky shine on his face with a healthy vigor. It was the perfect time to catch a large fish. 

He sat at the starboard side of the deck, throwing a line out and sitting patiently for a harsh tug. The waters were very calm that day, and if he looked hard enough, Snufkin could see fish swimming around below him. He smiled at the ocean. 

Snufkin could go on and on about how gorgeous the sea was. It was a place someone could get complete alone time or a place where someone could be with others forever. It was the place to walk in the cold and to talk to it just to hear it talk back in it’s weird oceanic sounds. You could feed yourself off of it, and if you knew what you were doing, possibly even drink from it. And no matter what, it was always there. Always the support you needed when you couldn’t look at people. 

A tug on his line broke Snufkin of his stupor. It seemed small, nothing he couldn’t handle. Until, of course, when the rod almost got pulled out of his paw. 

“Ah!” Snufkin let out, surprised by the force. He tugged back, not as hard as the other- afraid that the line would break- but enough to keep his balance steady. Snufkin knew for a fact that he wasn’t strong enough to get a fish that large up on the boat, and he didn’t want to break the new line he had gotten. He may have been agile and fast, but strength was never his strong suit. “TickTroll!” He yelled. “TickTroll, I need your help!” 

He heard hard footsteps coming his way. “The Toffle! What’s wrong?” Everyone aboard thought he was a Toffle for his nature of staying away, and he didn’t have the heart to correct them.

Another strong pull. “There seems to be a strong fish on my line. Could you reign it in for me?” 

“Oh, of course, l’il buddy!” The Too-Ticky grabbed the rod, and, even through the roughest of the fish’s thrashes, he didn’t struggle like Snufkin. When Snufkin finally got a look at the fish, he gasped loudly. It was huge and still thrashing violently. It had beautiful golden scales covering its body, with patches of white stroon around in random blotches. When he was admiring it, the fish splashed water onto him and TickTroll. The Mumrik wiped at his eyes, and made sure that the other was stable. 

“Careful, careful, oh, please be wary.” Snufkin whispered, grabbing onto his rod and the other troll’s paws to make sure his precious fishing pole wasn’t lost to the waves. 

When TickTroll called them over, three crew members came to get the fish on board to remove the hook and kill it.

Snufkin and TickTroll were covered in splashed water from head to toe. It was insanely uncomfortable having his clothes stick to his skin and patches of fur. He made sure his hat was secured in his paws and not in the ocean. 

When the crew mates started gutting the fish for lunch and mostly likely dinner, Snufkin blankly stared. TickTroll was still standing next to him, making sure every part of the fish was being saved for later and gutted appropriately. 

Without looking at him, Snufkin asked, “How much longer?”

“Oh, three days at most. Don’t worry, lad, ya will be there sooner than ya think.” 

Only three more days. Snufkin couldn’t wait to get off of that Groke forsaken boat. 

꠶⭜꠶

Moomintroll quickly ate breakfast at the personal table in Moominhouse, too excited to chew his food properly. 

“Calm down, son. You’ll choke.” His mother calmly murmured, washing the dishes from last night despite Mrs. Fillyjonk’s many protests. 

“I know, mama, I just can’t believe it’s finally happening!” Moomintroll let out a soft laugh, slurping down some strawberry juice. “We just haven’t done something like this in so long! And I barely see Alicia and Ninny anymore. It’s devastating, mama!”

“Truely, dear,” She said, her eyes closed when rubbing away some leftover water from a cup. 

Moomintroll’s eyebrow slowly rose. “Are you being sarcastic?” 

“Never, love.” 

Moomintroll shrugged and picked his plate up to put next to his mother. He kissed her cheek softly, mumbling a quick, “Love you, mama, see you later.” 

“I love you, too, son.” Moominmama smiled at him dearly as he ran out of the kitchen. 

Seeing his father on one of the couches, Moomintroll hollered, “See you later, papa! I love you!” 

When he closed the door, he heard his father yell back, “I love you, too, boy!” 

Moomintroll rushed down the market path, waving hello at everyone he passed. Some would ask what the young prince was doing, and all he could do was laugh back happily and scream out, “An adventure!” 

Moomintroll dearly loved his city’s inhabitants, all of them feeling closer to family than some people his parent’s ruled over. Despite this, all he wanted to do was go out with friends, paw in paw, and get as far as he could- all because of some wanderlust he felt at the bottom of his feet. Sometimes, like when he was running to Alicia’s house in the woods in pure excitement, the wayfaring was to his advantage. Other times, it was an insatiable itch in the back of his skull. 

Moomintroll ran through the trees, his small pads at the bottom of his paws helping him with the more difficult terrain. Alicia’s home was in the deepest part of the woods- very close to the Lonely Mountains- because her grandmother didn’t really enjoy the Moomins’ company. Said they were “too nice”, whatever that means. 

He was panting when he saw the cabin next to the largest oak in the forest. He could see Alicia outside picking mushrooms up, most likely for a spell. 

“Alicia!” He shouted. “I made it!” 

The witch looked up, surprise painting her face before it broke into a large grin. “Moomintroll! It’s so good to see you!” The girl threw the basket of mushrooms to the side, running up to her friend and hugging him tightly. Moomintroll spun Alicia around, both laughing exuberantly. When they let go, the girl pushed her red locks out of her face. “I haven’t seen you since Snorkmaiden’s birthday, right?” 

“I think so, yeah.” Moomintroll nodded, very happy to see his good friend again. “Didn’t she tell you about our adventure today?” 

Alicia let out a snort. “Well, of course she did. I’m telling you, Moomintroll, that girl has almost too many tricks up her sleeve. I’m beginning to think I should start running for my money.” Alicia went to go pick her mushrooms back up. “How about you wait out here for a second so I can go put these up, yeah?” 

When the troll nodded, she went inside her grandmother’s cabin. If he listened close enough, he could hear her rummaging around. 

The second she was out, she grabbed his paw and pulled her in the direction of the Lonely Mountains. “C’mon. We’re going to Too-Ticky’s spring cabin before we go. That’s where the others are.” 

The two made their long trek into the mountains. They exchanged stories about their days. Alicia talked about the time Ninny had come over and almost made her grandmother a goat. Moomintroll had gone on and on about a time Sniff got his head stuck in a bucket and the entire city got involved. That story made Alicia buckle over laughing, tears in her eyes. 

“Sniff is the biggest fuckin idiot! Groke, I love him.” 

It took a while, but the smoke of Too-Ticky’s cabin was finally coming into view. Alicia grabbed his paw again, rushing towards the house with a laugh. Since she wasn’t one for knocking, Alicia barged right in. “Too-Ticky, we’re here!” 

Inside the cabin were many of Moomintroll’s friends. Snorkmaiden was laughing with Little My on her shoulders while Sniff cowered, all three next to the fire place- which was unlit. Too-Ticky was sipping away at what looked like coffee. Ninny was sitting at the window perch, staring outside the window and tapping at bugs that flew by. 

Moomintroll let go of Alicia’s paw, and sat across from Too-Ticky. Alicia looked around the cabin in curiosity, looking under the dinner table as if she expected to find something no one else could dare find. “Hey, Tick, where’s Junior?” 

Too-Ticky looked up at the witch, and gave another one of her calm answers in her Too-Tickian accent. “She had to go to the marketplace for The Mymble. Too many critters runnin’ ‘round for her to leave.” 

Alicia nodded, looking a little displeased before clapping her paws, gaining everyone’s attention. “So, Snorkmaiden, what plans do we have today?” 

The Snork hopped up, grabbing the other girl’s paws in excitement. “Oh, I’m so glad you asked!” 

Little My chirped in, “Great, now she’s going to go on a tangent.” 

Ninny spoke up with, “Tell me about it.” 

The two redheads smirked at one another when Snorkmaiden huffed. “Oh, hush you two,” Alicia said, though she was smiling. 

“As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted,” the Snork put a paw on her chest like a fair maiden lost at sea. “We’re going to make the trek across the rest of the Lonely Mountains to a small village on the other side.”

“And why would we do that?” Sniff sniffled. 

Snorkmaiden turned to him slowly, a large smirk taking over her face. “I’m so glad you asked, dear friend.” 

Sniff’s ears went back in fear, his nose scrunching up uncomfortably. “Oh, dear.” 

Snorkmaiden wiggled her paws like a menacing creature. “We’re going because there’s rumors of it being haunted!” 

Moomintroll perked up, his ears showing his excitement. “Really!?” 

“Why would she lie about something so boring,” Little My grumbled, rolling her eyes. 

“Oh, be quiet, would you?” Snorkmaiden growled. “This is Moomintroll’s mental health day. When it’s your turn, we’ll go bully some small children.” 

Little My grinned, showing off her sharp canines. “Delightful.” 

“When will we be going?” Moomintroll’s tail swayed back and forth, his eyes alight. 

“Whenever you're ready,” Snorkmaiden put her paws on her hips, waiting for his answer. 

Moomintroll hopped up, his paws in fists close to his chest. “Let’s go now! I’ve been waiting for far too long, Snorkmaiden. If I wait any longer, my fur will start falling out!” 

Too-Ticky sat up then, carrying her tea cup to the sink. Everyone watched her, waiting for whatever words of wisdom she would grace upon them for their journey. When she opened her mouth to speak, the group was on edge. 

“I’ll make stew for when you all get back.” 

Oh, how they loved Too-Ticky. 

𐩲⭛𐩲

Snufkin hated the stupid boat. 

Ever since the fish fiasco earlier that day, everyone was far too happy for the disgruntled mumrik. He didn’t have any left over clothes to put on to replace his wet ones, and the Too-Ticky’s were all too large for him to borrow any of their clothes, so he was stuck sunbathing on the deck until he was done air drying. And just as it turned out, the sunny skies of the morning had been whisked away by a storm, making him even more soaked than before. 

And even when the boat swayed about on uneasy waters, the sailors were still singing sea shanties either below deck with the cargo or in their own bed lofts. However, they were all loud enough to unite and be a chorus. 

If those three days didn’t pass by soon, he was going to throw himself overboard and swim to the northern shore himself. 

꠶⭜꠶

The gang of young adults made their harrowing adventure to the mostly abandoned village passed the mountains. The prince and his friends made sure to tie rope around their waists in case one of them- i.e. Sniff- fell over the side. Little My decided that sitting on Snorkmaiden’s shoulders was the way she wanted to journey. 

The girls made small talk with one another, while Sniff moaned about the dangers of falling off cliffs and how no one cared about his troubles- at which Little My just laughed and said, “No shit.” Moomintroll would pipe in sometimes, but he was just bubbling from too much excitement. It felt like his bones were cracking and spitting like firecrackers. 

When they looked over the horizon and saw a decline in the mountain path with smoke coming from behind some of the trees, they all broke out in an enthusiastic run. They laughed with vigor and raced each other, despite the rope still tying them all together. Little my had hopped off Snorkmaiden’s shoulders at one point and raced them through the trees. 

Ninny and Little My ended up getting to the town first, both being very small and light. 

“You losers can barely even run!” Little My laughed. 

Sniff heaved deeply, “That’s not fair, My!” 

“All’s fair in war.”

Snorkmaiden’s eyebrow rose. “I don’t think that’s how that goes.” 

“Uh, hey guys,” Alicia brought all attention to her turned back. “Look.” She pointed to the town. 

Moomintroll peaked over her shoulder just to see the place abandoned. It was a lot larger than Snorkmaiden made it seem- not as large as Moominvalley, but larger than one’s normal mountain village. The buildings closest to them were falling apart, the wood rotting enough to see it’s abandoned insides. The deeper into the town square, the more the buildings seemed intact, but they all seemed so sad, like they hadn’t been opened in a long time. 

“But where’s the smoke coming from?” He asked. 

“I dunno, but I’m gonna go find out!” Little My smirked, running into the town as quick as she could. 

“Wait, Little My! Who’s going to protect me now?!” Sniff yelped. 

Ninny stepped up, flexing her small arms next to him, “I’ll protect you, Sniff! I’m very strong!” 

He only stared, looking at her with a strong sense of disbelief. “I’m doomed.”

Alicia stepped forward, making her way inside one of the buildings. “Well, c’mon guys, let’s adventure!” 

They all split up- Ninny protecting Sniff, although he didn’t seem to appreciate it. Moomintroll ventured through the worn down buildings. They were covered in dust and dirt, and it got all over his fur in patches- making him look like a big spotted dog. Sorry-oo would have looked at him with stars in his eyes. 

Sometimes, there were old cans of food, the labels ripped off haphazardly. Other times, he would find torn photos covered in mud of people laughing or families posing. Despite the environment and the mud, the pictures made him feel warm inside. It made him feel like, once upon a time, this village meant something to people. 

Moomintroll would go through the holes in the walls to the next door neighbors, making his slow way deeper into the village until he had to finally use doors. It felt less cool when he had to use doors. 

Inside one of the houses, he found Ninny protecting a cowardice Sniff, shivering behind her. 

“Guys, what’s wrong?” 

Ninny looked over her shoulder at him. “Sniff saw a cockroach and now I’m protecting him!” 

Moomintroll just looked at them and left. 

In another one of the houses, he saw Snorkmaiden rummaging in an old drawer. “Hey, Snorkmaiden!” 

The girl jumped, stopping her snooping to look over at him. “Oh, hello, Moomintroll.” She looked him up and down, raising a brow at his fur. “Um, exactly what happened there?” 

Moomintroll looked down at himself. When he got home, Mrs. Fillyjonk was sure to have a cow. “Because they’re so opened up, the houses closer to the mountains are much dirtier.” 

Snorkmaiden just slowly nodded, like she wasn’t really listening, just criticizing his grubby fur. 

Suddenly, they heard a loud scream. They would have mistaking it for Sniff crying, but- 

“That sounded like Little My!” Snorkmaiden leaped up, running out of the door faster than Moomintroll could blink. The pair ran down past the town square, as quick as they could. Halfway to where they heard struggling sounds, they found Alicia running to the same spot as them. Moomintroll hadn’t seen Sniff or Ninny, which just gripped him with nerves. 

The three of them reached their destination, but what they expected to be another abandoned building was naught. It was a house with new paint and a brick chimney- smoke rolling out. 

Snorkmaiden barged in, the door slamming onto the wall with might. “Little My!” She yelped. 

Inside, there was a grown hemulen in an old blue garment holding Little My far away from him, as she was swinging her limbs close to his face. “Let go of me, you old fart!” 

“Never, heathen! Now, be quiet,” the old hemulen barked. 

Alicia stepped forward, her paws in fists. “Let her go, she’s done nothing wrong!” 

The hemulen seemed to finally noticed them, as he stepped back startled, allowing Little My to kick his large nose. The man let out a yelp, dropping the young woman on the ground to scurry up Snorkmaiden’s body to perch and hiss on her shoulders. 

Moomintroll backed Alicia up, anger pure on his face. “What exactly were you doing to our friend? You had no right to hold her up like that!” 

The hemulen held his nose- red with a throbbing pain. He used his other paw to point at Little My accusingly. “She’s the one whose driven everyone from this place! She’s the one who caused this nice town to fade away!” 

Moomintroll’s expression faded into exasperation. “What are you even-” 

“What happened, we heard screaming?!” Ninny yelled, rushing into the room with a shaking Sniff hanging onto her back like a backpack. 

Little My rolled her eyes, her paws still digging into Snorkmaiden. “Good job on getting here on time, dweebs.” 

“Shut up, My! I’m scared!” Sniff whined. 

“Scared or pussy, you can’t have both.” 

“Quiet down, Little My,” Snorkmaiden said, irritation and worry in her voice. 

Moomintroll piped up again. “Sir, what do you mean Little My caused this place’s downfall?” 

The hemulen looked at them wearily. He didn’t seem to trust them whatsoever, but he also seemed very tired. From the bags under his eyes, the old man needed some well earned rest. Moomintroll stepped towards him, and the hemulen only backed away. “Please, sir, just sit down so we can talk. I’m very sorry if we scared you. We all just want an explanation. 

The man looked him up and down before letting out a heavy sigh and sitting down without elegance. “Oh, boy. Something horrible has disgraced us.” 

Moomintroll sat down in front of him on the ground. The rest of his friends following his example. Snorkmaiden sat down on a pillow, not wanting to be covered in dirt like her friend, and Ninny leaned against the wall- Sniff at her side. 

“A few years ago, everyone who lived in these houses’ walls were happy. We didn’t have much, but we had each other.” His expression quickly turned sour. “Then suddenly, our peace was disrupted. 

“There were vicious pranks. Our houses turned sad and cold from being stolen from. Our lights got low from crude words being painted on our doors. The people closer to the mountains suffered the worst, and so they left the quickest. Their houses rotted away from the sadness of being abandoned. It got too much too fast. Our family slowly burned away. We had no royal family to keep us together.

“A month ago, the last family left. I’m the only one. The prankster only got rougher. It’s been hard to keep them away. I’ve had to cut down on my sleep just to make sure that he never broke in.” His eyes closed with languor. 

Making sure he was finished, Moomintroll spoke up. “Mr. Hemulen, when does this prankster show up?” 

The old man opened his eyes again, looking at the young prince carefully. “Only at night. Never before, never after. At least, that’s what I believe.” 

Moomintroll stood up, his paws in fists. “May me and my friends stay until dark, sir?” 

Sniff put his head in his paws, groaning out, “Oh, no.” 

The second the old hemulen gave the go ahead, the prince gave everyone orders on how to catch the crude soul that had destroyed the village. Even Little My followed him, wanting to prove that she had no part in the village’s demise. They set up traps around the old man’s home, knowing that it was the prankster’s only target left. Snorkmaiden and Alicia made a net trap, and Sniff and Ninny had dug a steep hole in the ground with the few hours of light they had left. Little My had made a device that, if the prankster ever entered the home, would be unable to leave and would have to deal with all of her friends as a consequence. 

Just as the sun started setting, everyone was finished with their traps and ran back into the house- excluding Little My, who stayed on the roof for her trick. The group all huddled in dark corners, making sure they weren’t seen. The old hemulen sat in his chair, drinking a cup of coffee to keep himself awake. 

Moomintroll stared out the window at the moon, rising ever so slowly into the sky. He felt his nerves grasp at his fur, pulling it in every direction. What if he had wasted everyone’s day waiting for someone who was never going to show? Snorkmaiden, Alicia, and Ninny would forgive him, without a doubt. But he wasn’t so keen on Little My and Sniff. If they had never come, Little My wouldn’t have been grabbed by the scruff like that, and Sniff wouldn’t have been scared of the dumb cockroach. 

Before he could get any deeper in his own head, Snorkmaiden grabbed one of his paws, gripping it tightly. His fur rose in surprise before settling into comfort. He felt Ninny grab his other paw- more for herself it seemed than him. While the younger girl was all for protecting innocent women and cowards, she didn’t seem as good at protecting herself. 

So he squeezed both of their paws back. 

His ears pricked up at the sound of Snorkmaiden and Alicia’s net falling. No one moved, in fear that it hadn't worked. They knew for a fact that Little My had heard, and she would have been skipping with aggressive joy if they had caught the culprit. And so they waited. 

Ninny’s breath caught in her throat when the window lock was being messed with. It felt like years before the window opened and closed. It was too dark to see anything- the only light was next to the old hemulen and it was slowly burning the last of its wax. 

When a snicker announced itself in the room, Moomintroll opened his mouth to let out a loud gasp. Snorkmaiden slapped her paw against his mouth, and in the dark, he could see the snork’s ears were pulled back. Ninny’s paw was flexing in anxiety around his own. 

Before the room could implode from the strain, Little My’s trap sounded off, small bar-like sticks fell over the windows. Sniff, closest to the door, lit a new candle, and the wick burned bright. 

Alicia dove for the small critter, hitting the ground harshly for she was too slow. The perpetrator let out a squeak of terror, scampering away from the witch in as fast of a dash as he could manage. He went to the door, only to find it locked. He dove under Snorkmaiden and Moomintroll’s bodies, running for the fireplace behind the old hemulen- who could only try to wearily reach for him. 

When he made it to the fireplace, a small mymble covered in soot hopped down, pointing an accusatory finger at him. “You!” That’s all she could say before he ran away again, trying the window next to the door. Ninny and Little My ran after him. 

Since she was bigger than Little My, Ninny was the one to catch up and grab him by his smelly scruff. 

The gang all circled around the two, and all angrily said in unison, “Stinky!” 

Stinky could only wrap his limbs to his middle like a bug stuck on its back. “H-hi.” 

Ninny shook him out, the creep letting out a dizzied sound. “How dare you do this to this place, you foul idiot!” 

Snorkmaiden piped up, crossing her arms with a disappointed look, “You know, normally I would tell her to stop, but you royally fucked up this time.”

Alicia let out a surprised snort. 

Stinky waved his paws around when Ninny decided he had enough- though she looked like she would start again if he took one wrong step. “Look, sometimes Moominvalley gets a little too boring, so I have to improvise!” 

“Improvising and being a huge dick are two very different things,” Little My growled. 

“Like you have much room to talk, little mymble. Run back to mommy why don’t you. Or is she too busy with the other bastards?” Stinky laughed.

Little My’s face twitched viciously, her lip turning to a snarl. Before she could destroy the creep's face, Moomintroll stepped forward. “Stinky, this is a clear violation of Moominalley’s rules.” 

“This place isn’t part of Moominalley. You would know that if you weren’t playing pretend every day, your highness,” He giggled, clearly deeply proud of himself. 

Moomintroll, took in a deep breath, trying to keep his cool. “You’re right, Stinky,” He said, to the other creature’s surprise. “However, you are still a citizen of Moominalley, meaning, no matter what, you are held up to our laws.” Moomintroll squinted his eyes. “And I’m sure my parents would agree.” 

At that, anyone in the room could see Stinky start to visibly panic. “N-Now, Moomintroll, I’m sure we can sort this out! It was only a few homes-” 

Moomintroll’s face flushed with anger, remembering the warmth the homes still seemed to have for the people who used to live in them. “You couldn’t be more wrong, Stinky.” 

The group forced the creep to apologize to the hemulen. The prince promised that they would be back with money to cost for any of the damages Stinky had caused. And with that, they left for Too-Ticky’s house. 

When they got back to the warm cabin, Too-Ticky and Junior allowed them to spend the night, and that Stinky could take refuge in the locked shed behind the house. When she got inside after dropping Stinky in the shed, Ninny hugged Junior, her face pushed into her stomach. “Oh, mother, it was awful,” she whispered to her. “Reminded me so much of my aunt.” 

Junior just rubbed her hair back, whispering sweet nothings into her ear calmingly. 

That night, they all enjoyed stew and warm beds. 

In the morning, Stinky would be charged to fix all of the homes he destroyed, find the people who had fled, apologize and offer them back their homes in letters five pages long. 

But, Moomintroll and his friends had slept before that, wishing morning would always stay a few minutes away so they could sleep longer. 

꠶⭛𐩲

Snufkin has realized that being on a boat for two weeks with a bunch of sea shanty loving, muscular, ocean smart Too-Tickies was not a good idea. 

It was like a nightmare come true. A literal hell. They were never quiet, never let the poor Mumrik think. Never appreciated the finer things in life. Would never let him just sit and enjoy the smell of a calm ocean. 

So a beach- a northern one at that- looked like a pure paradise once those three dreadful days were over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ninny is the protector of women, cowards, and my heart 
> 
> happy Valentines day!!


	3. In My Head, It's Only Letters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I finished this legit like two seconds ago and I've procrastinated on it v v hard because I've been distracted by everything besides school, who would have thought
> 
> the chapter title this week comes from the song telescope by cavetown, v cool, v spicy 
> 
> okay, have fun with my many ramblings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ꠶⭜꠶ -Moomintroll  
> ꠶⭛𐩲 -Snufkin  
> ꠶⤥𐩲 -Little My

꠶⭜꠶

Moomintroll slowly woke up. He kept his eyes closed for as long as he could, making the dent around his pillow quite large as he nuzzled into it. 

When he finally opened them, his room was a fuzzy blob of color. With a groan, he closed them again and rubbed them with fists. Once he realized that staying in bed for the rest of the day wasn’t going to stop his father from coming up to his room and slamming it open with his dramatic flare, he sat up and started getting ready. 

He walked into his en-suite bathroom, grabbing a towel for when he was done with his shower. Moomintroll scrubbed his fur roughly, making sure it was silky soft- just how he liked it. He dried his fur off- mostly with shaking himself out, not that he was going to tell Snorkmaiden that. He brushed out his tail, making it perky and cleaned. 

Moomintroll shuffled through his small amount of clothes, looking for something his mother would find presentable in new company. In the end, he found a short, galaxy patterned cape that connected around his neck with a nice button. He looked in the mirror, flexing his arms and trying to impress no one but himself, before grabbing his small silver crown and heading downstairs for breakfast. 

Ever since the Stinky incident- which, there were a lot, so when talking about it in person, one had to be very specific- Moominmama had opted that Mrs. Fillyjonk and Misabel do all the meals. If she didn’t, Mrs. Fillyjonk wouldn’t have a way of distracting herself from the thought of moving from the valley. 

Moominpappa once asked, “Don’t you want her gone?” 

“Yes,” Moominmama said, “But one never says it. Besides, if you want someone gone, it is always a slow process.” 

Moominpappa looked a little too frightened to continue the conversation. 

“Hello, Misabel!” Moomintroll called to her when he got into the kitchen. 

“Oh!” She yelped, dropping the tea kettle she was holding. “Oh, dear. I guess I deserved that one.” She turned to the young prince, “Good morning, sir.”

The troll only smiled. “What’s for breakfast?” He walked over to Mrs. Fillyjonk, who pushed him away from the oven with her arm. 

“That’s none of your concern, Prince Moomintroll,” she glared out of the corner of her eye. 

The boy huffed, disgruntled, “Yes, of course.” 

Moomintroll goes to sit down at the table, playing with a spoon he found next to him and watching Misabel fumble around with cutlery. He sat for only a few minutes before his face scrunched with boredom. Right when he was about to sit up and go fetch his parents, he felt a paw land on his shoulder. 

Looking up, he saw Moominmama. “Good morning, Moomintroll. You look quite dashing, dear.” She kissed his forehead with her snout before moving across the table to sit down.   
Moominpappa skipped into the room, his paws on his hips with an adventurous vigor. He had his normal top hat on, but around it was his golden crown with a shiny emerald in the middle. “Why, good morning, my boy!” he shouted, all excited. “I can’t wait to go to the ocean to wait for the shipment.” He plopped down in his chair next to mama, kissing her cheek for longer than Moomintroll thought necessary. “Just good ol’ father son bonding!” 

Moomintroll could only help but nod. 

Mrs. Fillyjonk came over with three plates full of pancakes- topped with whip cream and honey and fresh fruits from the garden the Mymble and Moominmama liked taking care of together. The family dug in, Misabel and Fillyjonk having their own share next to them. 

Moomintroll liked the taste and the pancakes were fluffy- not as fluffy as Moominmama, but Mrs. Fillyjonk was definitely getting better. Moominpappa seemed to want another plate, but Moominmama looked full after her first pancake. 

When there was officially no more pancakes left for Moominpappa to consume, he stood up and stacked everyone’s plates and silverware together to put them in the sink. When he washed them all off to his fullest extent- meaning not much at all- he turned to his son. 

“Ready, boy?” 

No, he thought. Not really. 

꠶⭛𐩲

The waves lapped at the bottom of the boat calmly. Snufkin held his head in his paws, looking intently at the shore far away just in case the Too-Ticky’s started singing again so he could swim himself. 

“Lil’ Toffle!” TickTroll waved. 

The mumrik said nothing, only slowly closing his eyes. 

TickTroll leaned his arms on the banister, looking up at the sky with a light in his eyes. They both stayed quiet for a while. For once, Snufkin could hear himself think. 

“Have I ever told you about my wife?” 

Snufkin opened one eye. “Not that I know of, no.” 

TickTroll smiled brightly, his sharp canines glistening. “She’s gorgeous. I’ve never loved someone so much in my life.” 

Snufkin closed his eyes again, lowering his head- hoping the waves would reach up and cover his ears for him. 

“She’s back in our kingdom’s forest. We’re planning on adopting a child soon. It’s so exciting, having a promised future with someone.”  
Snufkin wouldn’t know. 

The Too-Ticky was suddenly quiet, but Snufkin just accepted it. Sometimes, the Too-Tickies were quieter than him, and other’s, not a soul could shut them up. Just when he didn’t expect it, a paw was put on his shoulder. 

He tensed so hard that his shoulders raised up to his ears, the paw slowly slumping off. He opened his eyes, looking at the troll from under the shade of his hat. What Snufkin saw was the other man smiling at him. 

“You’ll find someone like my Tickle one day. I’m sure of it.” 

Snufkin had never doubted something so much in his life. 

꠶⭜꠶

Moomintroll shuffled around all of the papers on the clipboard his father had given him. “Um, dad, what is all of this?” 

The older moomin waved his own clipboard around, showing it to Moomintroll without turning around. “Why, it's all the trade items we need to check for!” 

“Right,” the boy laughed nervously. “What else would it be?”

“Exactly, my boy!” He pumped his arms up into the air, excited beyond recognition. 

꠶⭛𐩲

When the boat hit the shore, Snufkin gripped onto his pack as he hopped over the railing. He didn’t say goodbye to the Too-Tickies, rather leaving them to their own worries. 

He did, however, hide in the bushes to see who would show up to see to the shipment. 

Being Robin Hood was a full time job, after all. 

꠶⭜꠶

His father bouncily talked to the Too-Tickies- about the trade with the south, his own personal adventures, and so much more. Moomintroll made light conversation with some of the Too-Tickies, too focused on doing his job right to have a full conversation. 

All of the boxes seemed completely right. The food was covered in Too-Tickian ice to make sure they stayed fresh- even Snorkmaiden’s beloved potatoes and Little My’s favorite types of meat. The silk that could only be found in the south was well taken care of, and the purest salt from the Southern Ocean Kingdom was all accounted for. 

The fine wool and peaches, however, were nowhere to be seen. 

Oh, Groke. He was only checking items and he had already fucked up. He was convinced that telling his father was the last thing he wanted to do, but that didn’t seem to be on a Too-Ticky’s mind. 

“Cap’n TickTroll!” She hollered. Moomintroll felt very compelled to slap his paws against her mouth. “The peaches and wool ain’t in their crate!” 

“What?” A large Too-Ticky walked over to them, Moominpappa following close behind. “What do ya mean? We checked the shipment just before we arrived.” 

“I dunno, sir,” The girl said with the same Too-Tickian accent as Too-Ticky. “Lil’ Moomin over here just opened it and it was empty.” 

The captain trader was quiet for a moment. He looked dreadfully confused before his face exploded in terror. “Oh, no, The Toffle!”

“Toffle?” Moominpappa asked. 

TickTroll looked at him nervously. “Well, sir, we had a smol’ Toffle friend ask us to take him to the north. I said he could. But it seems like he had stolen from yer trade, King Moominpappa. I’m very sorry, sir. If I had known, I wouldn’t have let em aboard!” 

Moominpappa put a paws on the man’s arm, patting it reassuringly. “It’s alright, boyo. You’ll still get all the trade we promised. You couldn’t have known this was going to happen.” 

“Oh, thank Groke,” The troll said, hiding his worried face in his paws. 

“Son,” Moominpappa said to his son. “Why don’t you check the other boxes for any other missing items? We’ll need to know what we’re lacking so we know what to ask for in our next trade.” 

Moomintroll only nodded, compelled with the fact that losing the items wasn’t his fault, but upset over the fact that the Too-Tickies all looked slightly betrayed. Like the person that had stolen from them was someone they thought they knew. 

꠶⭛𐩲

Snufkin bit deeply into the peach, the liquid running down his chin. The taste was nothing like meat, but it wasn’t the worst. The mumrik held his bag of stolen items over his shoulder, his pack held snugly to his back, but not tight enough to disrupt his hidden tail. 

Now, he thought, taking another large bite. It was time for him to scope the area. 

꠶⤥𐩲

Little My skipped up to Moomincastle, making her way through the castle entrance and not the house. Going through the doggy door Snork had made for her, she hopped to the door that led to the many bedrooms and not up the stairs that led to the royal dining room. She ran her way into the basement door, closing it quietly in a hope of scaring one of the Snorks. 

She tiptoed down the stairs to the Snork’s lab- which was more like very quiet running for someone so small. When she reached the bottom, she could see the large lab that held all of Snork’s prototypes for his grand flying machine. When they came to Moominalley, Snorkmaiden was a wee babe and Snork proposed a great way of faster trade that would bring the valley millions of riches. The Moomins agreed and gave him their entire basement. 15 years later, and he wasn’t anywhere near finished, but he was a good fit for the royal family’s mismatched city and allowed him to stay with no repercussions. 

Little My sneaked beside the mauve Snork, climbing up his work desk where he was fervently making calculations on messy papers. Without him taking notice, she stood on his blueprints and yelled, “Boo!”

He only pushed her off the table. 

“Oof!” she let out. Damn, what a dick. She kicked the chair out from under him, and she watched with a laugh as he fell onto the ground. 

“What the hell, Little My?!” he shrieked, rubbing his rump with a glare. 

“Where’s Snorkmaiden?” 

Snork growled, rubbing his eyes from staring so intently at his papers- most likely all night. “She’s in her room, obviously.” 

Little My left him to wallow in his pain, and ran to the corridor to the Snorks’ bedrooms and bathroom. 

Without knocking, she pushed the door open. There was no natural light in the room, seeing as they were underground, but there was a beautiful chandelier with mint candles hanging off of the ceiling. Snork had made it for her, but Little My was the one who suggested it. The walls were painted a pastel pink, and little paw prints were covering one like an accent wall- Little My, Sniff, Moomintroll, and Snorkmaiden had painted them on her walls when they were all preteens and very rebellious. 

Seeing as she wasn’t roaming around, the young Snork was probably asleep. Little My climbed up her bed, the mint green silk blankets slowing her down. She sat on top of the other girl. Snorkmaiden was snoring peacefully, her eyelashes long and slender and her bangs fluffy like the rest of her. Her head rested perfectly on her pillow and her nose was directly in front of Little My. She looked like a princess that had come directly from her dreams.

If she wanted to, she could kiss the girl awake. 

Little My lightly slapped Snorkmaiden’s snout. 

“Ah!” she yelped, jumping out of bed with startled eyes. 

Little My flung herself onto the ground, landing perfectly on her feet. She put her paws on her hips, looking at the Snork with an accusatory glare. “Finally, you’re awake. Thought you were gonna stay asleep forever, you big oaf.” 

“Little My!” she groaned, pinching between her eyes. “Why can’t you wake me up normally?” 

Well, it was either that or a kiss, she thought. “You should expect this by now, Snorkmaiden. I’ve been waking you up for years, you know I never wake people up normally.” 

The girl nodded, groggily getting out of bed and making it look like no one had ever touched it. “There, now time to get ready” Snorkmaiden turned to Little My, asking, “Could you brush my hair for me as I brush my teeth please?” 

Little My ran out of the room looking over her shoulder with a look that said, ‘Of course, but if you tell anyone, I’ll kill you myself.’ Snorkmaiden beamed, her blunt teeth glistening. 

Gross, Little My thought as she ran away to hide her face. 

Snorkmaiden’s hair was soft in her paws, feeling so much like her silk blankets. She was the exact opposite of Little My- who was so angular and rough. If she wanted to, Little My would lose herself in her soft curves and petite voice and shiny eyes. She was almost one hundred percent sure she didn’t want that. 

“Oh, Little My!” Snorkmaiden said happily, spitting the last of her toothpaste out. “Did I tell you about the Hemulen who tried to sell his entire farm to me for one date?”

“No, tell me more,” She sarcastically said. 

“Okay, so, we were at a party, right?” 

“Mrs. Fillyjonk’s spring party?”

“Yes, that one. And I’m dancing, wooing everyone, of course. A Hemulen with a strong bald spot came up to me, took my paw and stopped me mid dance-”

“What a dick.” 

“That’s what I thought! And he gets down on one knee and says that, even if it was just a thirty minute date, he would give me his entire farm.”

“What did you do?” Little My, despite herself, was genuinely curious. 

“I told him no, and when I tried to take my paw back, he just gripped it harder! His pads were really rough against my skin; they felt like little knives! I was clearly mad now, and when I asked him to let go, he said he wouldn’t without a yes.”

“Did someone help you?” 

“No, actually, Because I punched him in the snout and left him to wallow in self pity.” 

Little My snickered so hard that she had to stop brushing Snorkmaiden’s hair in fear of knotting it. “Oh, my Groke.” 

“And then I put some of Moomingrandma’s special laxatives in his beer. He looked very panicked when they kicked in.”

Little My was so close to falling off of her friend’s shoulders, tears in her eyes. “W-wait, you remembered the recipe?” 

Snorkmaiden looked at her, a twinkle in her eye. “One must always be prepared.” 

Little My covered her mouth with her paws, the brush sorely in the way, trying to stop the Snork from hearing her loud snorts. 

Snorkmaiden grabbed the discarded brush from Little My’s tiny paws and put it on her counter. Before standing up, she secured the mymble on her shoulders, insuring she was safe. On her short legs, Snorkmaiden walked out of the shared bathroom back to her bedroom. 

Little My watched as she carefully picked out which flower clip she wanted for her hair that day. In the end, she was stuck between a daffodil clip and an orchid clip. While the daffodil was quite catching, the mymble knew that it would get lost in Snorkmaiden’s yellow bangs and fawn colored coat. However, with the orchid, it shone most brightly and would make anyone come to land at Snorkmaiden’s feet. 

Little My stuck her paw past the other girl’s snout, picking a clip for her. “The orchid is pretty.” 

Snorkmaiden blinked, very surprised by Little My’s words. In the end, she smiled a soft one and put the daffodil down, clipping the orchid into her brushed hair. “Marvelous.” 

She’s so ugly, never seen someone so nasty, Little My thought, her face stuffed into Snorkmaiden’s neck and as red as Ninny’s hair. So distracted by her personal endeavors, Little My didn’t notice that Snorkmaiden had walked them over to her brother until he spoke. 

“Snorky, could you please go get me my order of nails and screws from the Muskrat?” 

The young Snork beamed. “Of course, Snork! Is he by the hammock or in his shop?” 

“I requested it to be at the shop, but you never know with that man,” Snork shook his head in what seemed like exasperation. 

Snorkmaiden nodded, hugging her brother fondly before skipping up the stairs to the main castle entrance. When she opened the basement doors, she stuck her arm out. “Little My, will you be coming with me or will you want your own adventure?” 

Little My squinted, weighing her options. Before Snorkmaiden had to wait too long however, Little My slapped the other girl’s arm twice. “Don’t worry about it. The day just started, after all. And Sniff is off with Ninny and Alicia looking for glowing emerald worms and Moomintroll has to go help his dad that morning. Nothing better for me to do besides follow you around.”

Snorkmaiden smiled again, making the mymble regret the decision almost immediately. “Perfect. I know with you around, this will be much more fun!” 

She started to skip again, out of the castle and down the dirt path that curved around the weirdly shaped castle and lead to the town. Snorkmaiden waved at everyone, always politely blushing at the compliments given to her before completely forgetting about them. Little My glared from her shoulders like an angry crow, hissing at anyone that came too close and laughing maniacally when they looked surprised. 

Truly polar opposites. 

The bell at the top of the Muskrat’s door rang way to high pitched and loud for the mymble, who ran her teeth together in annoyance. Snorkmaiden rubbed her back soothingly, making her way towards the counter where the Muskrat slept behind it in a large hammock. 

The Snork rang the bell, chirping out a sweet, “Hello, sir.” 

The old philosopher huffed, the fluffy mustache around his lip blowing in the air. “Is it that blasted Snork family again?”

Snorkmaiden balled her fist behind her back, he thumb hidden in the rest of her fingers to stop her from acting out. Little My bit her lip, watching the Snork closely. The Snorks and the Muskrat had history. When the Muskrat decided that, since the world was one day going to end from an alien invasion, it would be wise to start a nail and screw shop in town as a way of peace offering when they arrived. The Moomins allowed him to take every screw and nail and put it into one shop- which they all regretted but were too nice to say anything about it. 

Since the Snork had been building his invention for fifteen years, he often had to visit the only fucking place in the valley over and over again. It was irritating that they always had to come to the Muskrat’s shop, which also annoyed the shop keeper, as he had chosen the most dumb job for a reason and the Snork’s were ruining his peace and quiet. 

“You know where it is. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go back to an existential crisis and the dread of loneliness.” The man turned over, ignoring Snorkmaiden’s sigh. 

The younger girl went to go grab the boxes of nails and screws while Little My skidded down her back to the floor. She dropped down silently, making sure she didn’t hit any creaky floorboards, and made her way to the back room. When she reached it, she automatically grabbed a box of screws and dumped them on the ground. She did this with a few more boxes, watching them all fall down spitefully. 

After successfully dumping a few boxes, the wiped her paws off and placed them on her hips. Showed the Muskrat that he shouldn't treat Snorkmaiden in such a way. 

“Little My!” She was grabbed by her scruff by something fluffy, and when she looked up, she saw Snorkmaiden. “What did you do?”

Despite herself, Little My felt disappointed by her reaction. In turn, that just made her angry. “Well-”

“You could’ve gotten so many more boxes if you got on the shelves and kicked them down. Here,” she said, placing Little My on one of the tall shelves. “You kick these down and I’ll get the ones on the ground.” She put her boxes closest to the door, making sure they didn’t get opened and tossed around, too. 

Little My’s chest ached and her throat felt a little dry, but she still grinned her ass off as she kicked down the boxes just to see them crash and burn. 

After a solid few minutes of watching boxes fall and soft giggles and almost stepping on nails, the Muskrat finally woke up. 

“Who woke me up?” he asked, scratching his back and smacking his lips violently. 

Snorkmaiden gasped, grabbing her boxes from the floor, and holding her arm out. Little My landed on her arm, scampering up to her shoulder. The girls ran for the back door faster than the Muskrat could even react. 

Little My was laughing so hard she could barely keep her arms around the other’s neck, and Snorkmaiden didn’t dare laugh no matter how much she wanted to in fear of slowing down. Before long, they reached the path leading up to Moomincastle. Snorkmaiden halted, gasping for breath while laughing out the giggles she had held in. 

Little My almost fell off her shoulders when she threw her head back. “Oh Groke, did you see the look on his sad, old face!?” 

“Serves him right for making Snork overpay for all those years!” 

When they finally calmed down, Little My opened her eyes to see that Moomintroll’s window was wide open, inviting them inside. 

“Oh,” Snorkmaiden said, seeing the balcony, too. “Would you mind going up there for me? I need to go drop these off before I forget.” 

Little My nodded, hopping off her back. “See you later, Snorkloser!” 

The girl only snorted. “Whatever, shorty.” 

Snorkmaiden walked off, a hop in her step showing her positive mood. Little My watched her walk away until she couldn’t anymore. Then, she ran over to the vines that hung down the blue castle house and pulled herself up. 

She shimmied up to Moomintroll’s balcony, grabbing the railing and letting out an oof as she vaulted over. 

“Hey, marshmallow!” she yelled out at him, walking into his room. “The hell are you up to?” She saw the tail end of Moomintroll’s startled jump, and he turned to her- the fur around his cheeks puffed out. 

“Little My, what are you doing here?” He blinked, fiddling with the dip pen in his paws. Why did he have that out?

“Well, you’re the one with the window open, genius.” Little My leaped onto his arm and leaned over his shoulder. “What’cha writing?”

He rolled his shoulder to try to push her off, but all it did was dislodge her paw. “None of your business, My.”

She patted his neck absentmindedly, still leaning over to try to read Moomintroll’s tiny handwriting. “Don’t be so silly, Moomintroll. Everything can be your business if you try hard enough.” 

The troll just huffed and got up. He put the pen and ink in a drawer and stacked the papers together. Despite the fact that he was just writing, he didn’t pay any mind to the ink smudging- which just made the mymble suspicious. “I just got back from papa’s little adventure. I would like to rest.” He pulled Little My off of his shoulder and onto the ground. He dramatically plopped onto his bed with a sigh. 

“Oh, c’mon princess, it couldn’t have been that bad,” Little My groaned, climbing on top of the boy. 

“Yes, it was. Someone stole our entire shipment of peaches and wool. It was dreadful.”

Little My’s brow rose. “Who on the Lady of the Cold’s good, green earth would want only wool and peaches?” 

“Some dumb Toffle, from what the sailors say.” 

The mymble’s face scrunched. “If I see him, I’ll beat him up. Just for you, you young, gross baby.” 

Moomintroll rubbed his face. “You’re only four years older than me.” 

“Still gross.” 

Behind them, the doorknob giggled and turned. On the other side was none other than Snorkmaiden holding a cup of pink lemonade. “Knock knock.”

Little My snickered, “Well, if it isn’t the goddess herself.” 

Snorkmaiden put her paw on her hip in a joking manner, giggling softly. “Oh, hush, My.”

“Oh, Snorkmaiden!” Moomintroll yelped, wrapping his arms around her middle with a solemn expression on his face. “It was dreadfully horrid!” 

The Snork only pat the fur atop his head. “How about we talk about it, huh?” 

Moomintroll nodded, letting go of the girl and sitting back against the wall. Snorkmaiden sat down, her stubby legs hanging off of the bed. Little My opted to sit aloft the bed frame, holding onto one of the posts for support. 

“Well, I dress really nice, right?” Moomintroll started. 

“No.” Little My blurted. 

Snorkmaiden glared at her before softening. “Of course.” 

“Yeah, well, papa, mama, Misabel, Fillyjonk, and I all have a nice breakfast and papa and I are dressed all formally and he hands me a bunch of papers detailing what items we’re giving and getting and when we get there and we check out the crates. But when I open the crates with the peaches and the wool, they aren’t there. I started panicking and papa noticed and so did the captain so they came over and apparently, there was a Toffle aboard that was always with the shipment and the last one to see the crates before landing. But he had jumped ship right when they did so now we’re down wool and peaches and the Mymbles really needed them because their garden doesn’t have any and it’s still a little cold and it’s all because of some dumb Toffle.”

Snorkmaiden only blinked. 

“Okay, uh, that’s a lot.” 

Moomintroll jumped, playing with his paws. “Sorry, I’m still a little shaken.” 

“It’s okay, Moomintroll. Here, I got you this,” Snorkmaiden smiled, giving the boy the pink lemonade she had brought with her. 

“Thank you,” the prince said, downing some of it nervously. 

Little My chimed in, “Where’s mine, Snorkmaiden?” 

“In the fridge, where you can go get it yourself,” she said satirically. 

Little My gave her own toothy grin back. 

“Well, Moomintroll,” Snorkmaiden started, making the conversation turn serious again. “I’m sure Moominpapa nor Moominmama are mad at you. There’s always more shipments for peaches and wool.” 

“Yeah,” Little My chirped. “And if my family gets hungry or cold, they all have rooms here in Moomincastle. There’s really no need to worry, fussbucket.” 

Moomintroll’s shoulders finally started relaxing, in which Little My noted that Snorkmaiden’s did, too. 

Stupid idiots. 

Little My hopped off the bed post and walked over the bed to Moomintroll, taking his lemonade cup and taking a sip of her own. Letting out a pleased breath of air when finished, she said, “Now, how about we get going to do something fun for a change?” 

꠶⭛𐩲

Snufkin set camp deep into the forest- far away from the kingdom but still close enough to see the top of the castle. 

He put on his normal Robin Hood getup, even though it was dark and the chances of someone seeing him was slim. He had on his normal boots and pants, but the thing he was missing was his very recognizable tunic. What was always under this tunic was his long sleeved, thin white shirt and suspenders. He had his torn yellow scarf wrapped around his neck, mouth, and nose, leaving only his eyes visible- although his hat shrouded over them.

He made his way to the kingdom as quietly as possible. He passed through the trees like a shadow- mostly from his years of practice- until there was a break and he lept into an alleyway. Many of the buildings were far apart this far away from the castle, but Snufkin made due. 

He listened to the people in their buildings. Some were asleep so late at night, but some were laughing or talking. Snufkin knew that they were only ignoring their pain though. Many people seemed to do so in the south, at least. 

Snufkin didn’t go to the castle, leaving that for the next night. Instead, he moved with the few people still in the market, or with the shadows between houses, or with the noises of rowdy children in a small house. The village was quiet and loud all at the same time. It seemed so haunting to someone like Snufkin. 

In his head, he was making a plan. When he stole from the royals, it would be hard to find a way out with such a sparse layout, but if he went through the thick wood, he would be able to lose them in the trees. He didn’t know who needed it most, yet, leading him to thinking he should give it to the most generous of the bunch. However, that meant talking to the people of the kingdom and he didn’t know how well he would fair in the north. 

Snufkin’s plan was all very loose, all over the place in more ways than one, but he knew he would be able to grasp it soon. It felt it in the way his hidden tail twinged. 

Something was going to happen soon, and it was going to be him saving the north. 

It just had to be. 

꠶⭜꠶  
Moomintroll let out a loud groan. 

Ever since he got back inside from going to Sniff’s cave to play the worst game of tag imaginable, Moomintroll had been sitting at his desk, trying to put anything on paper. 

Absolutely nothing was coming out. It was all blank. 

The words wouldn’t come out of his fingertips like the way papa had once described it. If anything, his fingers were being slammed by a door over and over again with truly no remorse. 

He put his head on his desk, his eyes closed shut and his paws gripping the edges of his table roughly. If he wanted to be a good king, he had to be just like his father. Had to be good at writing the stories his people loved listening and had to have a loud and certain voice at all times. He had to know what he was doing. 

Moomintroll sat up and tried again. He had to get it, sooner or later. 

Sooner or later, something remarkable had to happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you can't tell, the thing you guys have been waiting for is finally happening next chapter


	4. These Words are Supposed to be Simple

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title comes from the song The Fall by Half Alive
> 
> hello, i am so sorry for not uploading in a while, i just haven't had the motivation to write anything (mostly due to the fact that i got back into ndv3, soc, and tbhk) 
> 
> i also just want to say to anyone who has commented on these chapters: thank you so much, i'm very awkward when it comes to compliments so it's difficult for me to respond, however, it is so motivating to see your comments and it actually helped me write the rest of this chapter and finish it up

The soup was bland. 

Snufkin sat back from his morning supper, licking his lips with a wrinkle in his nose. 

Odd, it seemed like his herbs were starting to shift in taste. Maybe he ought to go out and buy new ones. He sighed and stood up, getting a bowl of the odd soup despite it’s awkward flavor. 

He ate it as fast as he could- the spices were giving it a very strong aftertaste, like salt water. Snufkin slurped down the rest of it, not wanting it to go to waste at all, and sat the bowl down for a good washing later. He got up, stretched, and started to get ready for the day. 

He threw his tunic on, the scarf going soon after. He checked his tail was comfortably stuffed in his pants before setting his hat on his head, grabbing the bowl, and making his short way to the river. 

The river was a long one, reaching from the ocean. Like fingers, it spread far over to the mountains and to the kingdom past the trees. It was also the thing he followed to get to his little hiding spot. 

He rubbed the bowl thoroughly with his paws, his pads scrubbing it mostly on accident. While washing, he serenely listened to birds tweet out in the distance and small creeps hustle around on the ground. It was quite wonderful if Snufkin could say so himself, and he sure did say so. After being on that horrendous boat for Groke know’s how long- he did know, it was only two weeks, but the shanties made it oh so much longer- Snufkin had sworn off all communication with anyone- especially Too-Tickies- and that is without debate. 

When he was finished, he walked back to his camp calmly, content on listening to nothing but Mother Nature and her children. 

Despite all of the bad things he had heard, the north had wonderful forests. 

Snufkin put his bowl in his bag, making sure everything was secure if the south had somehow tipped him off and northern police were out to get him. Even if the chances were slim, that didn’t make it improbable. 

Snufkin grabbed the spice that went bad, and started his walk into town to get more ingredients. As much as he loved peaches, he couldn’t fill up on only the fruit. Besides, he needed to restock before stealing from the royals, giving it to the poor, and going on his way. 

The path was soft beneath his paws, the spring air flowing through his hair and against his hat. From what he’d seen, the north wasn’t too bad. It was quite surprising. 

When emerging from the woods, the village was alarming, but not in a bad way. The houses were far from one another when close to the forest of the castle, but they all clustered together near the middle and the marketplace. They always varied in size- and in noise- and they almost always complimented the people living in them. Snufkin had once seen a gloomy woman come out of a dark home, and a cheerful man out of a bright cottage. 

Everything fit like a puzzle piece. 

Besides the castle, that is. 

In the front, it looked like a warm home. In the back, where the main entrance was for villagers or sightseers, was an amalgamation of a blue bricked castle. It seemed as though they weren’t made together. Like someone was living a peaceful life, and then suddenly, there were castle walls connected to their home. 

It was oh so off putting. 

Snufkin rushed to the marketplace, dodging the people walking into him and anyone trying to forcibly sell him their items. He emptied his old spices for a woman who needed them for her fish, and quickly went to grab new ones. 

“Excuse me, sir,” Snufkin said, coming up to a grumpy looking other Hemulen. “Do you have any spices?” 

He huffed, his puffy eyebrows coming over his eyes. “Take wha’eveah ya want, as long as ya pay.”

The mumrik nodded, taking out his spice containers and filling them to the top with new herbs. They smelled like beauty. “Thank you, sir.” He politely said, fishing out some money for him. 

However, the man wasn’t focused on him anymore, but someone behind him. Out of his curiosity- screw his curiosity- he turned to look. 

A boy with fur as white as snow and eyes as blue as the sky and ocean Snufkin loved so dearly. He was laughing with a girl with beige fur and blonde highlights, a soft pink flower tucked into her locks. A small mymble was wrapped around her shoulders with a spiky tooth grin. They looked so clean and wonderful. 

The boy looked at him before they moved farther into town, farther away from Snufkin. 

He looked so soft. Snufkin felt a strong urge to run his fingers along his back and across his shoulders and on top of his head. 

Instead, he stuffed his pepper and clove into his pockets and turned to the man once more. 

“Who are they?” He asked, a bit of a stern bite to his words. 

The other Hemulen gruffed, his brows once again casting a shadow along his face. “The prince, Mumitroll, and his friends. Snakmin and Short Brat, if I remember correctly.” 

He felt like that wasn’t exactly true. 

But, with that feeling came dread. That boy with shiny eyes the color of gems and kind looking paws Snufkin wanted to hold was his enemy. 

His heart went cold. 

Absolute anger washed over him. Of course some pretty boy was someone he had to hate. He felt so mad at the boy, at himself for even trying to entertain the idea of holding someone’s paw. A horrible taste entered his mouth. 

He threw the money at the man and dashed for the woods, like he always did. 

꠶⭜꠶ 

There was a boy in the square. 

He had red tinted auburn hair, and sparkling brown eyes that were hidden under a hat. A tunic hung down his torso, his lanky legs posed as if he was ready to run. Moomintroll saw his ear twitch with curiosity when they made quick eye contact. 

His paws looked soft. 

Snorkmaiden was laughing at a joke Little My had said, but he wasn’t listening. 

Something entered his head when looking at the weird creature in the square. He hadn’t felt it since he was a little moomin. He was so used to everything around him and hadn’t seen anything new in so long. 

When it connected in his head, Snorkmaiden was already pulling him towards a bakery with fresh doughnuts. 

He was intrigued by something new. 

Moomintroll’s wanderlust pulsed in his paws, spreading through his nervous system. His eyes sparked with that quizzical look he had lost when he had gotten used to his kingdom’s people and forests and mountains. He was used to Stinky’s shenanigans, to Little My’s sharp smiles, to Snorkmaiden’s soft wits, to his parent’s royal duties. 

Now, there was someone with the look of the wild in his eyes and the curve of running in his paws and Moomintroll wanted to say hello so badly. 

The boy ran away when the bakery bell rang above his head. 

“What do you want, Little My?” Snorkmaiden asked, the pink flower in her hair hopping along with the girl. 

“Is there a sprinkle blood doughnut?” 

“Uh,” Snorkmaiden crouched down, looking at the pastries behind the glass. “No, but there is red velvet.” 

Little My smirked, “Even better.” 

The Snork turned around, her eyebrows showing her question. “Moomintroll, what do you want?”

He was staring out the window blankly. 

“Hey, dipshit!” The mymble barked, making the prince jump. 

“W-what?” 

Snorkmaiden quirked her head, her snout slightly scrunched. “Are you alright?” 

Moomintroll nodded his head, a reassuring smile appearing on his face. “Yeah, yeah, of course, I am! Don’t worry.” He walked over to the girls, looking at the sweets. “What flavor are you guys getting?” 

“Your mom,” Little My laughed. 

Snorkmaiden slapped her foot lightly. “I’m getting blueberry and Little My wants red velvet.” 

Moomintroll tapped his snout with his finger, making a show for Snorkmaiden to look at, since he looked far too worried for him. “Hmm, well, I think I’ll have to go for chocolate sprinkles,” He said, twisting his tail like the princes did in all of the books he read as a child. “It is the doughnut of royals, after all.” 

Snorkmaiden finally bursted into that sweet smile of hers and Moomintroll took quick notice that Little My looked away as fast as she could, her face pink with anger, the prince guessed.

She giggled behind her paw, eyes shining. “Oh, yes, of course. What else could it possibly be?” 

Little My let out a fake gagging noise and the other two laughed. 

Moomintroll ordered- the saleswoman insisted on a discount, which the troll didn’t argue with and just put the rest of the money necessary for the meal into the tip jar- and sat across from the two girls. 

They talked as he stared out the window, his head in his paw. 

Little My’s eyes narrowed, one of her grumpy looks. “He’s sighing wistfully again.” 

Snorkmaiden could only blink. “What do you think he’s thinking about?” 

“Probably some pretty girl he wants to make out with endlessly,” The mymble barked a laugh. 

Moomintroll gave her a glare. “I can hear you, ya know.” 

She smiled. “Oh, I know.” 

He rolled his eyes and continued to think about the boy. He wondered if he had a tail. He wondered what would happen if he pet it or scratched behind his petite ears. The troll couldn’t help but think if his teeth were sharp. 

He got so stuck in his head that he went as deep to think about if his nose was soft. 

He felt like Snorkmaiden, for a second. The maiden was popular for her looks and kind personality- and anyone who got on her bad side would recognize the fact that she could be more cruel than Little My if she so desired. She was sweet to the ones who needed it and smart when the situation called her to be. However there was always her one set back- attractive people. 

She was vain but not in the sense of getting in her way- normally. It hadn’t happened recently, her distraction to hot people. The last one was some rude skier named Barf or something, but that was almost two years ago. Snorkmaiden actually had been rejecting people more than before. 

Maybe she had given him her attraction disease, without her awesome looks. 

The girl in question snapped her fingers in his face. “Earth to Moomintroll, you there?” 

“Maybe he’s dead.” 

“If he’s dead, I’m throwing you into the woods to fend for yourself.” 

Little My gave her a fake pout and they both watched as the troll came back to. 

“Why are you both staring at me?” 

Before Snorkmaiden could think of a response, Little My said, “While you were out, your fur turned pink.” 

The prince squawked looking at his arms with wide eyes. When he found that she was joking he huffed. “Very funny.” 

“Thank you, I don’t try very hard. All natural.” 

Snorkmaiden quickly took control of the conversation, watching as a male Fillyjonk came over with their doughnuts. “What are you thinking about, Moomintroll? You seem quite distracted today.” 

The prince let out a sigh, letting his head lay on the table and showing off his fluttering eyelashes. He could hear Little My stifle a giggle in Snorkmaiden’s shoulder. “Did you see that forest colored boy in the market?” 

“What, you mean the one that looked like he skinned a frog and put it on?” 

Snorkmaiden huffed. “Oh, he wasn’t that green, Little My.” 

“I beg to differ.” 

If Moomintroll had looked up, he would have seen ‘then beg’ in the snork’s eyes. 

“Well, he just looked so,” he trailed off, tracing a figure-8 into the table aimlessly. 

“Hot.” 

“Smart?”

“Sexy.”

“Magical?” 

“Free,” He answered. 

Snorkmaiden’s ears flew behind her head. Little My distracted herself with her fresh doughnut. 

They both knew that he didn’t want to be king. He had told them both several times that all he wanted was the soft dirt beneath his paws and wind blowing his fur every which way. But they all knew that would never happen. He had a duty to be the next king for their growing kingdom. He owed it to his people, even if the thought made him tired. 

So he had to be just like his father. 

But he couldn’t help green boys showing up in his marketplace with the look of the exact thing he longed for. 

Of course, only Little My could break their silence. “Too green for my liking. Needed more red.”

Moomintroll smiled, taking small bites out of his sweet doughnut- it melted in his mouth and he automatically knew why Snorkmaiden adored it so much. 

“Maybe a tad too green. But I think blue would be better.” 

“No, no, that boy definitely needed some more orange, maybe yellow.” Snorkmaiden pointed out. 

They all laughed, finally feeling the tension leaving their shoulders. 

꠶⭛𐩲

Snufkin stared at his fire as the world around him grew dark and quiet with silent leaves and Creeps. 

He was mad at himself, for running from the marketplace. It had seemed like the boat ride to the north had left him more exhausted than he predicted. Maybe he was just ill. 

Blue eyes burned in his head. Yellow hair shined in the flames. Sharp teeth caught on his vision. 

It was weird. 

Snufkin had never once had friends. He had never had the chance. It was always run, rob, run, rob, rinse and repeat. If he didn’t he would get caught or fail the people that needed him. However, the kids in the marketplace had caught his eye. He had always been alone, always fine with it. He never once shared his fears or tears with anyone. 

And for the first time in his life, he kinda regretted it. 

And he hated himself for it. 

This was the life he signed up for. He was the one who stole from that horrible queen who treated her people like slaves. He was the one who gave them the money to over through her when he was only eight. 

He was quick on his feet and witty. 

And a white rope with soft paws and a fuzzy tail and sapphires where eyes should be had tripped him up. 

For the first time ever, he wanted a friend. 

A friend who was his natural born enemy. 

꠶⤥𐩲

Little My was in the royal dining room for once again another meal with Moominvalley’s people. She was genuinely only there for the sweet ham she had gotten a taste of a few hours ago- she had stolen some from the kitchen, but no one needed to know that- and for a beige girl who could easily be mistaken as a goddess. 

She tore into it as the people around her spoke with vigor. Little My only really paid attention when one of the Moomins or if Snorkmaiden was talking, however. 

She could feel the sweet liquid glistening down her chin as she took large bites. She knew a few people were gawking at the mymble like a freak, but Snorkmaiden was looking at her like she was the funniest person in the world. 

It was so gross- so, so gross that she felt her ears burn and lips curl into a smile around her meat. 

Little My and Snorkmaiden both caught onto Moominpapa’s words, however, bringing their attention away from the shorter girl’s drool. 

“So, son.” He cleared his throat with a fist. “How do you feel about doing some paperwork with me?” 

Little My could feel his muscles tense from beside his mother and Snorkmaiden. “What will it be about?” 

He knew, they all knew. 

“About, you know, ruling. There’s things I need to take care of and I believe that you would do a good job at helping me. You will have to become king one day, so it’s always good to get practice.” 

Little My heard the snork across from her wince. 

Moomintroll let out a small laugh. “Um, I don’t really know. I don’t think I’d be very good at it.”

“Oh, nonsense, boy! You need to get the knowledge in there sooner or later, it’s the only way to be as good as me!” He pointed a proud thumb at himself while Moomintroll shrunk away. 

Little My sighed, slapping her paw against her forehead. 

She stood on the table and yelled, “Oops!” She threw the last of her ham at Moomintroll’s head. He let out a surprised oof at the slap the meat made against his head. 

“Why on Earth-”

“Guess you’ll have to go wash that out, huh, you big doofus?” 

Moomintroll blinked before it finally connected. He stood up quickly making his way out of the room while waving them away. “Of course, I’ll be right back!” 

Little My sighed at the loss of her meat and sat back down in her chair, arms crossed. Moominmama had winked at her and Moominpapa looked slightly lost. 

Snorkmaiden, despite the people surrounding them showing their disappointment, smiled. 

Little My’s heart burned bright and painfully. 

꠶⭜꠶

Moomintroll quickly went into Moominhouse’s kitchen and washed off the excess sweet ham sauce from his forehead. He dried off as fast as he could, silently thanking Little My’s quick thinking. If it weren’t for her, he would be stuck with his father, trying his hardest to stay comfortable. 

When he was done, he was stuck at a crossroads. He could either go to his room, which is what he knew was the better idea, or run. He didn’t know where, just somewhere. He would’ve wanted a few certain mymble or snork or rat boy Sniff with him, but he couldn’t go back to get them. It would have made Little My’s meal a waste. 

For the first time in a while, he followed his feet instead of his head. 

He made for the forest, away from the mountains and across his papa’s bridge. It creaked from the river below hitting against the wood softly. 

The wood made him feel alone and safe all at once. He wasn’t in his village of expectations or in his castle of duty. He was in his forest of wild and bugs and Creeps. 

Moomintroll could run if he wanted to, or walk, or hum, or yell. He was free. 

Kind of. Not really. But it was the closest someone like him could get.   
It was quiet and soft. His mind felt so flushed yet so empty all at once. It was wonderful, being alone. He wouldn’t be able to handle it for long- he would need to see someone sooner or later- but sometimes, even a moomin like Moomintroll needed peace. 

And sometimes, that peace was broken by fire in the distance and a branch under his paw. 

꠶⭛𐩲

Snufkin had heard the twig before he saw the person who stepped on it. 

He threw a bucket of water on his fire, scrabbling up from the ground to try to get to his tent, but, in his fear, he fell. His chin hit the ground harshly, and he could only hiss before trying to get back up. 

“Oh, my! Are you alright?”

He hissed loudly, jumping to his feet. 

꠶⭜꠶

Okay, so, Moomintroll had no idea what was going on. 

He had broken a twig after he saw a bright light, only to see it flare out of existence. In his curiosity, he followed it only to see the green boy without his hat on trying to stand up after falling. 

“Oh, my! Are you alright?” He had asked. 

The hiss he got back made him jump. 

Moomintroll stuttered, “Um, sir, are you okay?” 

At a closer look, the green boy looked scared. He had no idea why, he hadn’t threatened him, or tried to advance at him. If anything, the boy was more threatening to Moomintroll than vice versa. 

꠶⭛𐩲

The moomin in front of him was tall. Not tall tall, but taller than Snufkin, which was a problem. While he could get away from him with a quick run, he was obviously stronger. If he got even slightly too close, Snufkin was done for.

In the end, he was screwed. 

Under the moonlight, the prince looked majestic. He looked pampered and clean and rich. The exact opposite of the mumrik. 

Despite this, the prince looked at him like Snufkin was the prettiest thing he had ever seen. 

“Your chin’s bleeding.” 

He hissed, covering his chin. He huddled into his shoulders, taking a few steps back. 

The moomin brought his paws up. “Hey, it’s alright. I won’t hurt you, I promise. I just want to help.” 

“I highly doubt that,” The mumrik said against his aching jaw. 

He looked taken aback, his ears swiveling to the front of his head. “Oh, you can talk.” 

Snufkin tsked. 

The moomin shook his head, clearing it. “Never mind that.” He focused back on the boy, making direct eye contact. “May I please help you?”

“No,” he growled. 

The moomin- Snufkin couldn’t remember his name, the pound against the ground had messed with his head- eyed his tent. “Do you have any first-aid in there?” 

No. “Yes.” 

“You know, for some reason, I don’t believe you.” 

Snufkin huffed, his shoulders slowly relaxing. After concentrating, he noticed that there were no other scents or noises aside from the two boys and fire smoke. They were alone. He was unprotected. But why? There were always guards surrounding royals in the south. 

“Please, just let me help you.” 

The mumrik thought. If he let the boy help him, there was a chance he had an in into the castle. However, it could very easily be a trap. But there were no guards, meaning their defenses were most likely weak. 

If he played his cards right, he had a straight line right into the castle. 

It would be an in and out operation. 

So, Snufkin relaxed and creeped his way over to the moomin. 

“Snufkin,” He said, shaking his paw softly. 

꠶⭜꠶

Okay, that was surprisingly easy. 

His paw was also even softer than he thought and it put him in an easy trance. Snufkin’s- Snufkin, his name was Snufkin, the literal embodiment of freedom was named Snufkin- pads were rough from overuse, but his grip was so gentle that he wanted them to caress his head. 

Oh, Groke, was he making his first new friend since he was seven? 

“C’mon, let’s head to my castle. We have aid there.” 

Snufkin looked him up and down before nodding his head. Moomintroll had no idea if that was a good thing or not, but it was better than hissing. 

The moonlight led them through the forest, though the prince knew that he could walk back blindfolded if he needed to. The boy behind him was quiet, and, while Moomintroll would normally leave him alone, it was a new friend and he was weak. 

“So, what are you?” 

“A Snufkin.” 

“That’s a type of mumrik, right?” 

“Yeah. It’s the mix between a full breed mumrik and a mymble.” 

“Oh! We have a family of mymbles here. One of my best friends is a mymble.” 

“Hm.” 

The conversation died out, the two slowly making their way out of the woods. When the castle came into view, Moomintroll led the mumrik to the back castle entrance. The prince was sure that everyone had left- it was close to the end of dinner if he could remember correctly. 

When they entered, they saw the large doors to the dining room closed, showing that the guests were gone and his parents were in the Moominhouse. 

“Follow me,” Moomintroll said, making sure he didn’t walk too fast in case he lost the mumrik. 

꠶⭛𐩲

Moomintroll was odd. 

He walked like he was uncertain but his eyes said anything but. His paws were kind and soft, the pads silk against his own. Despite the fact that Snufkin was dirty and bleeding and looked ready to run, Moomintroll had offered to help him. 

He couldn’t remember the last time someone helped him. 

It was always the other way around. He was always helping others. It was like a calling card, his magnum opus. Nonetheless, a fluffy boy near his age still aimed to help his chin. 

The north was odd. 

“Please, sit here,” Moomintroll showed him a chair in the infirmary on the second floor. It was white and clean, something he had seen in many castles. It made the fur on his back and arms stand on end. 

The mumrik sat down, looking around like he was trying to put every single detail into his mind. Which, he was. Someone didn’t just rob royals without testing the waters first. 

Suddenly, a paw was turning his jaw gently and a wet cloth was pressed against his chin. The touch was soft, barely even stung. 

Moomintroll removed the cloth and brought a jar out of the cabinet across from them. The slicked one of his fingers up with the clear medicine and rubbed it onto the wound. It burned into his skin, making him bite down on his tongue in an effort not to wince. 

Once it was all rubbed in, a bandage was placed on the ointment covered chin. 

The prince beamed at him with such honesty that Snufkin wished he had grabbed his hat. “There you go! If you need anything else, like water or a meal, we can always go to the kitchens and get you something.” 

Snufkin shook his head, wanting to be back in his tent. “No, I’d prefer to be back in my tent to rest.” 

The troll nodded, opening the door for the both of them. “No problem, Snufkin!” 

He led the mumrik back to the large castle doors, waving him off as a way to say goodnight. “I’ll see you later, yeah?” 

꠶⭜꠶

Snufkin’s soft chestnut eyes pierced at him- so wide and cat like. Moonlight bounced across his curls exposed to the world and his torn green tunic flowed behind him. The wildness that made the prince stare was pinched into every limb, and the band-aid on his chin twisted when he said, “We shall see, prince.” 

Just like the wind, he was gone. 

“Well, that was gay.” 

“Ah!” Moomintroll jumped high, gripping at the door like a lifeline. “What the fuck, Little My?!” 

“What? I just came to check up on my favorite prince.” She shrugged, looking down at her nails like she was bored of everything else. 

“You didn’t have to scare me like that!” 

Little My walked out of the door and under the awning held up by detailed pillars- those were built by Moominmama, the king wasn’t as good at detail as he led on- her back turned to him. She was making her way to bed at her mother’s house it seemed. 

“Hey, My!” 

The short girl turned to Moomintroll, confusion clear on her face. 

“Thank you for today. I owe you one.” 

She huffed, a smile clear on her face. “Hell, yeah you do. Just stay out of trouble, okay, kid?” 

The prince nodded, thankful for her. “I’ll try. No promises.” 

She let out one of her barking laughs. “No promises, you dumb oaf.” 

Little My walked off, Moomintroll watching as she disappeared into the dark and past the castle. 

He shut the doors, making his way to Moominhouse to get some of his own rest. 

Snufkin, he thought. What an odd creature.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, so i have no idea if this is good at all, i felt so energized to just write that i wasn't really paying attention 
> 
> if you see any problems, please tell me so i could fix it   
> hell, let's be honest, i might just rewrite it, who knows


	5. The Brink of My Existence is Essentially a Comedy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The song for today's chapter title is Oom Sha La La by Haley Heyndrickx and it's amazing and I would recommend it to anyone 
> 
> If this chapter seems all over the place or has any inconsistencies whatsoever it's because i haven't touched this thing for a solid month and I'm very sorry about that

꠶⭛𐩲

The northern morning rays hit his face without warning through his thin tent. It woke Snufkin up instantly. The second he felt it, he knew it was soon to be summer. It’s calling was strong in the wind. 

He got up and did his routine. Get dressed, clean, fish, eat, clean, sleep, wake up, repeat. At least, that’s what he planned on doing.

“Good morning, Snufkin!” The prince on his doorstep said, waving his soft paw at him. 

Alright, he wanted to rob them, but not that much. 

“Moomintroll,” the mumrik regarded sleepily, gutting a fish with his pocket knife. Despite his most likely sheltered lifestyle, the moomin didn’t shy away. “What brings you to my abode?” 

The boy scratched behind his head, his ears going back and his expression embarrassed. “Well, my friends and I were wondering if you would, perhaps, enjoy going on a journey with us around the valley.” 

“And do what, exactly?” Snufkin’s voice had a soft lift to it, like he was genuinely intrigued. He couldn’t tell if he actually was. He threw the gutted fish into his boiling pot, shoving the bones aside. 

“One of our friends had a batch of clothes out for a wash, but because of the harsh winds last night, they blew around everywhere. She asked if we could help her find them since she was busy, so we agreed. I also thought it was a good idea for you to see the rest of the valley!” 

Snufkin stirred his stew, adding in his favorite spices and vegetables after a while. He then let it sit. 

He thought, for a moment, about Moomintroll. He had met him only a few days ago. Despite his friendly demeanor, however, the boy always gave him space. It was weird, sometimes, to smell him in the strong winds and expect him to break through the forest to bother him just to see him never come by. Odd creatures in this valley, he had to admit. 

But he also knew he had to get on Moomintroll’s good side if he ever wanted an in on that castle. He would need a tour of it, which he knew he would get if the two got closer. So, he couldn’t exactly say no. 

“Why don’t you join me for lunch? It will help us feel refreshed on our walk along the valley.” 

Moomintroll gave a small bounce as he sat on the ground near Snufkin- enough space to let him breathe, but not so much that the troll seemed cold. “Splendid! Is it carrot and fish soup?” 

Snufkin gave him a small smile, barely large enough to leave a dent. “Of course.” 

They ate quickly once the fish was cooked to perfection. Moomintroll took the meat surprisingly well to Snufkin. He had expected him to take it out due to his soft nature, but he just continued eating. Interesting, maybe he was an omnivore. 

When they finished, Moomintroll helped Snufkin clean the bowls despite his complaints, and they set off. The forest was dense and thick with light and green colors. It was gorgeous- Snufkin would never get over it- and the noises of the birds and Creeps were immersive. If he closed his eyes and stayed ever so still, he could be anywhere in the world. He could breathe the air of the south of travel atop the highest northern mountains. 

But mumriks were never very good at staying still, so Snufkin continued onward, the fuzzy troll ahead of him. 

They passed wild vines and poking branches, the spring bugs relishing in the new heat buzzing past their ears. After a while, they passed the trees and made their way to the bridge Snufkin had only seen a few times. There was just one railing- to the mumrik’s left- and the spot looked perfect for fishing. It was honestly too bad that he would be there for just a moment. 

On the aforementioned bridge was the pair he had seen with Moomintroll a week ago. The short one was on the ground, unlike last time, and her paw was tapping impatiently. The other fuzzy troll- depending on the fuzzier tail, shorter stature, and blonde hair, she was a snork- was twirling a deep purple flower between her paws. When she noticed Moomintroll and Snufkin, she bounced. 

“Moomintroll, you’re back!” She beamed, the small girl next to her taking notice. The Snork turned to Snufkin, putting the flower back in her hair and bringing her paw out. “I’m Snorkmaiden! What’s your name?” 

He gave her a warm smile and shook her paw. “Snufkin. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The short girl hopped between the two, slapping their paws away. Before the two could react, she huffed up her chest and stuck a thumb to it. “Name ’s Little My. And just so you know, I bite.” 

Snufkin rubbed his paw, letting out a tense laugh. “Delightful.” She could definitely be a handful. 

“Oh, back off, Little My!” Snorkmaiden picked the girl up by her midriff, slinging her onto her shoulder like she was a seat. “We’ve just met him, threaten him after you’ve got to know him.” 

“Waste of time, why not just go off with a heavy start?!” 

Moomintroll piqued up, “You would think you’d know after living for so long.” 

“You make me sound so wrinkly.” Little My pulled at her skin, pushing it around for a bit of a laugh. It brought a smile to Snufkin and Moomintroll, while Snorkmaiden had snorted. 

The prince clapped his paws together, bringing everyone’s attention to him. “Now, why don’t we get started?” 

“Yeah, let’s steal from the wind!” The mymble pumped up a fist, kicking Snorkmaiden’s chest lightly. “Giddyup, horse!” 

“Horse?” She said, slightly offended, but she still turned past the bridge and walked on. Snufkin and the prince walked behind them. 

“Duh, you look just like one! With your nose and all.” 

The Snork grabbed her nose, rubbing it self consciously. 

Snufkin and Moomintroll stayed quietly behind them, enjoying the sounds of the outdoors and the soon approaching town. That is, until the troll spoke. 

“How are you today, Snufkin?” The way he said his name was awkward to listen to. Not necessarily a bad awkward, more like a hopeful awkward. It was hard to describe, especially since he didn’t have the widest vocabulary. Anyway, the way Moomintroll said his name was soft. As soft as his paw? Maybe, maybe not, but it was quite easy to see the care he put into saying it. 

“I would say well, the weather is nice. Though, it feels like something is in the air.” He had his arms behind his back, folded against each other, and he squeezed his wrist. 

Moomintroll waved him off. “I wouldn’t take note of that. Something’s always happening in Moominvalley.” 

Snufkin looked around the town, looking at the people buying and selling, hanging out with friends. “So it seems.” 

Snorkmaiden stopped in front of them, and, before he could get tripped up, he stopped. Moomintroll walked right into her back, letting out an oof while Little My let out an annoyed hiss. 

Moomintroll rubbed his snout, letting out a grumbled, “Why’d you stop?” 

Snorkmaiden brought her paw up, pointing to some woman wearing a sleeveless turtleneck despite the weather. “Isn’t that Too-Ticky’s?” 

Snufkin’s breath hitched in disappointed annoyance. Please, for the love of Groke, don’t sing. 

“Hey, it is!” Little My barked. She kicked Snorkmaiden again, “Onward!” The other girl reluctantly pushed forward, going to confront the woman. 

Moomintroll turned to Snufkin, still rubbing his nose with a finger lightly. “Too-Ticky is the wife of the woman, Mymble Junior, we’re helping today. Junior and My are sisters.” 

The mumrik nodded, taking a step toward the girls. “Shall we go see what they’re doing?” 

The troll sat up straighter, flattening the fur on his chest. “Uh, yes, shall.” 

Snufkin’s brow shot up with a smirk on his face. Okay then. 

When the boy’s got there, Little My and the woman were bickering and Snorkmaiden had her paws up in a passive manner. 

“Ma’am, pleas-”

“This is mine, fair and square! I found it and you have no right to take it!”

“Last time I checked, you didn’t pay for that, old hag, now give us back our friend’s sweater!”

“Little My, you are in no way helping-”

“Never in a million years would I give this warm thing up. This place is freezing twenty-four seven, and I have a right to be warm.”

Moomintroll stepped in, a soft look on his face- was everything about this boy soft? It was starting to get worrying how little he looked like a threat, hopefully getting in that castle would be easier than he thought. “Hello, Ms. Grumpy Fillyjonk. How are you today?” 

“‘S in the name!” 

Moomintroll smiled, “Of course. Now, I was wondering what the fuss was all about?” 

The old woman grabbed at herself, huddling in close. “These two fiends are trying to steal from me!” 

“Now, listen here-”

“My!”

“Excuse me, ma’am, but these are my friends. They mean no harm, we are just trying to help out a few friends of ours. Their clothes blew away last night and they asked us to fetch them. It seems like you found one, right?” He seemed so sweet, but Snufkin could hear the smallest amount of passive aggressiveness.

The woman shuffled her paws before nodding. 

Snufkin felt his insides drop. This was what he wanted to stop, the weak and poor from being taken advantage of. His cheeks felt hot and he brought his paws into fists. His hidden tail fought itself in his waistband, wanting desperately to slash the air freely in anger. 

The prince was just like any other, any other prince that would scowl at the poor and take things that they might need. 

Snufkin might have heard the troll offer the old woman a new sweater, but he knew he wouldn’t deliver, that he would let her sit in the cold, afraid it might take her away in the middle of the night. 

The mumrik closed his eyes and inhaled. He had to calm down, he couldn’t think about the woman like him. He had to be the friend of a rich boy. He had to bring his nose up at her, at least in front of someone like Moomintroll. He exhaled, and saw Little My giving him an odd side eye in his peripheral. 

When he tuned back in, he saw the woman’s fuzzy tan coat and the sweater in Moomintroll’s paws.

“I promise to get you the best sweaters in the entire north, ma’am. I assure you you’ll be as warm as mama’s oven soon enough!” He gave her a thumbs up and a blinding smile. 

The woman waved him off, as if she wasn’t frightened mere moments ago about her fate in the hands of a royal. “Whatever, brat. I just don’t want to see that one-” She pointed to Little My, who hissed over Snorkmaiden’s shoulder. “Near my house ever again.” 

“Who said I wanted near you or your stinky house?” 

“I’m throwing you in the river later in the hopes that the fish will teach you manners.” Snorkmaiden whispered to her. 

“If I need a river, the old hag needs the sea.” 

Snorkmaiden covered the girl’s mouth with her paw and gave the old woman a wave. “Thank you so much for your time, miss.” 

She only gave the female snork a dismissive snort. When Moomintroll gave his goodbyes, she rolled her eyes and gave a small bow. 

She never looked in Snufkin’s direction before entering her home. 

They all walked off into the town once more, with the mumrik in the back and the trio ahead of him. He watched the villagers go about their days selling items and doing laundry and going out to have fun. No one looked at him. No one recognized the color of his smock or the way his hat bobbed on his head. 

It would be refreshing if it wasn’t so foreign. 

Instead, Snufkin stared ahead at the prince. His mouth was opened in a loud laugh and his ears were perked high in happiness. 

He was weird. At first, at night, Snufkin liked to entertain the thought that he might be different. That he treated his subjects with kindness and loyalty. That his eyes weren’t just pools of blue but pools of acceptance. 

Of course, he was wrong. Royals would always be cruel and heinous creatures that would only look out for themselves. Self preservation was the thing at the front of their brains at all times. If it wasn’t, could they even call themselves a royal?

With this in mind, Snufkin’s shoulders fell back into a relaxed slump and his brows went into a neutral position. That’s right, royals would always be the same, so there was no need to get insanely worked up over some stupid prince who was cruel to his subjects. It was normal- always had been and will be until the end of time. 

Snufkin was just there to make the roles switch. 

When the group found that no more clothes were in the town- excluding the sweater and a pair of lilac socks- they went into the woods. They were much more dense the closer you got to the mountains, and the group found most of the clothes wrapped around tree branches or soaked in puddles. 

After a while, they decided to split up to cover more ground. 

To figure out who would go with who, they played rock paper scissors and the winner determined the teams. Every single time they played, Little My won. 

“C’mon, Moomintroll, give up already! I won all five rounds!” 

“Best of 20,” He pushed. 

Little My gave him a twisted smile, her eyebrows sinister. “You act like 20 will help you win.” 

Moomintroll yelped and Snorkmaiden sighed. “Alright then, what’s the damage?” 

“You’re with me, blonde cheese ball,” She smirked. 

“Perfect, if I wasn’t sick of you already, I will be.” The snork put a paw on her hip, giving her a smirk of her own. 

Little My could only give out a flustered, loud laugh. 

Moomintroll shrugged, turning to Snufkin. “Looks like you’re stuck with me.” 

He smiled. “I don’t mind.” He minded. 

The troll’s features lit up, his ears perked and his tail swishing around happily. “I’m glad.” Snufkin couldn’t tell if he was lying or not.

Suddenly, a soft paw was wrapped around his and he was softly tugged in the troll’s direction. “C’mon, let’s go get those rouge clothes!” He pumped a fist into the air with a determined glint in his eyes. 

Snufkin quite figured he liked it. 

Which was dangerous. Moomintroll was dangerous, in every manner, he was. However, Snufkin was once told he was fairly good at getting in and out of trouble, so Moomintroll wouldn’t be any different. 

He would woo the boy into friendship, steal from him, give it to the people who deserved it most, and would then be gone into the wind. 

He just couldn’t focus on the way their paws slot together like a finished puzzle. 

“This way is very pretty, I’ve found,” Moomintroll said, searching the tree branches above for any clothes. “It has very vibrant mushrooms and the tree leaves are colorful this time of year.”

“Isn’t it always this colorful in forests?” 

Moomintroll squeezed his paw gently and gave Snufkin the softest smile he’d ever seen. “Yes, but colors are always brighter when you’re with friends.”

Friends. 

Huh. The troll was quite delusional. 

Snufkin looked ahead with a blank face, not paying any mind to the boy’s expression. “I suppose.” Up ahead, Snufkin saw a lake. He thought nothing of it before he saw a glint of color in the water. “Moomintroll, look. I think there’s some clothes in the lake.” The mumrik rushed ahead, the troll being dragged along by their clasped paws. 

When they reached the lake, they saw that there were indeed a good few clothes drenched in the lake. Moomintroll squeezed his paw again before letting go. Snufkin’s paw suddenly felt chilly. 

“Good find, Snuf! These are a lot of their clothes. I wonder how so many of them got blown here?” Moomintroll was knee deep in the water, ringing out a blouse. 

“What did you just call me?” 

Moomintroll froze, slowly turning to the mumrik. “Um, Snuf? I’m sorry, I should’ve asked first. Do you not like it?” His ears were back and his tail looked painfully bent- it was stiff and barely moving. 

If he wasn’t mistaken, Snufkin thought that Moomintroll might value his opinion. Which was stupid. He obviously didn’t. 

The green covered boy crouched in the lake, looking at a pair of light blue pants before ringing them out. “No, I don’t mind,” he muttered, not looking up. “You can call me whatever.” 

The boy turned flustered, his shoulders relaxing and letting out a stuttered, “Right.” 

They continued on with their work, ringing out the clothes and throwing them onto the dry riverbank with ease. The sun was burning on their skin for so early into summer and, if he listened close enough, Snufkin could hear the troll’s heavy breathing. 

“Do you need to take a break in shade? You do have a lot of fur on you.” 

The troll shook his head, a pant fresh in his mouth. “No, I’m alright. Thank you, though.” 

The air turned awkward, and if Snufkin was a more open person, he would have started to fidget. After a while, it was too hard standing next to the troll in silence- Snufkin was always the quiet type, but there was something about the troll that made you want to confide in him, which was why he was so tight lipped. 

Snufkin dipped the dress he was currently ringing out back into the water, soaking it completely before he stood up and ringing it out above Moomintroll’s head. 

He sputtered, completely taken off guard. “S-Snufkin?!” 

“You need to cool down. Your winter coat still hasn’t gone completely, I can tell. You’ll pass out if you aren’t careful in this sun.” Snufkin rang the rest out, shaking it for good measure before he threw it to the bank. “Do you feel better now?” 

Moomintroll blinked the rest of the water out of his eyes and nodded. “Yes, actually. That was quite nice. Thank you, Snufkin.” 

He shook his head dismissively. “It’s no problem.” Besides, if he didn’t try his best to befriend the troll, he wouldn't have that perfect in he was hoping for. 

Soon after, they had all the clothes drying on the bank. Moomintroll splashed water on his face, making sure he was cool after Snufkin’s stunt. 

“We need to make sure these are dry enough for the trek back to the rest of the pile.” Snufkin said, paws resting on his hips. 

The prince shook the excess water off his paws, walking up to the other. “Yeah, I agree. Do you want to sit in the shade?” 

The mumrik nodded, making his way to sit under a tall tree. “Yes, it is quite hot.”   
A muttered, “Oh, thank Groke,” came out of Moomintroll as he followed the shorter boy to the tree line. They sat down with a slump and a sigh. “Why don’t I tell you about the valley as we wait? I did promise.” 

“Hm, yes, I suppose you did, didn’t you.” 

He let out a laugh before he started speaking. “Okay, so, obviously, the kingdom is in Moominvalley. In the middle-ish is the castle and MoominHouse.” 

“MoominHouse is the big blue pillar, right?” 

“Yeah, it’s where me and my parents live. The big brick structure behind it is the castle portion. It has the great hall, the royal clinic, the dining room, and a bunch of bedrooms for the civilians to rest in if they want a change of scenery or need some place to stay for a bit.” 

Snufkin nodded, watching Moomintroll talk with his paws. “Hm, alright.” 

“Snork and Snorkmaiden live in the basement. Snork is kinda like our evil scientist, but he’s just more reclusive than evil. Little My lives with her mother in the town, The Mymble. She has a bunch of kids. I’m sure even the Groke fears her for her amount of children.” 

Snufkin smiled. “Please, it can’t be that bad.” 

Moomintroll looked at him with wide eyes. “She has 35 kids, Snuf.” 

“35? That goes way over the normal average.” 

The troll shrugged. “What can I say, she gets around! But one of her kids is Mymble Junior, and she and her wife live in the Lonely Mountains.”

“Oh, they’re the ones we’re helping out today, correct?” 

Moomintroll hummed. “Yeah, they are. They’re really good friends with my family, so they’re basically, like, my sisters but also my cool aunts.” 

“They sound like fun.” 

“They are, trust me.” Moomintroll laughed as sweet as honey. “They also have a daughter named Ninny. She’s feisty but pretty sweet when you get to know her. She’s also an Other Hemulen, so that’s something that you can relate to.” 

“On some level, yes.” He closed his eyes. 

“Oh! There’s also Alicia. She’s a witch, but she’s super cool. If I could describe her in a few words, I’d say badass older sister.” 

His eyebrow twitched. “Vulgar.” 

“Sorry.” 

“Don’t worry, keep going.” 

Moomintroll tapped his finger to his chin, thinking. “There’s Sniff, too. Excluding Ninny, he’s the youngest of us. He’s very greedy, but he’s just a kid, you know? He means well.” 

Snufkin only let out a thoughtful hum. “Do you have anything else here?” 

“We have the beach. There’s a dock for shipments, but if you go further down, you’ll see the old bathhouse. That’s Too-Ticky’s during the winter.”

Snufkin cocked his head, inquisitive. “Why during the winter?” 

Moomintroll’s ears twitched in his direction. “Oh, she doesn’t hibernate. It’s also during this time of year that her, Junior, and Ninny go to the south for winter, which is why getting these clothes are so important. Junior doesn’t want to ruin the trip because they don’t have appropriate clothing, and she was too busy packing to get them herself.”

Snufkin’s eyelid twitched. “To… The south.” 

“Yeah, they go wherever is colder, but they mostly stay here, at least for early spring and fall.” Moomintroll looked at him before his face fell. “Is that bad?”

“No, just interesting, is all.” Snufkin swallowed. If they went to the south, then they had to know of Robin Hood, there was no way they wouldn’t. But, they went during winter, everyone hibernated then. That didn’t make the possibility zero, though. 

He couldn’t get caught because he was trying to play friendsies with a prince. He’d need to be careful near those three. 

“When will they be leaving?” 

“About a week from now, I think. They still need to get supplies they don’t already have and rent a boat out for the summer.” 

Snufkin bit his lip. “Alright, thank you.” He stood up and brushed off the back of his tunic. “The clothes should be dry enough to take them back up the path now.” 

Moomintroll nodded, shaking the dirt off himself before following Snufkin to the bank. They picked up a pretty equal amount and made their way back up the wooded hill. The sun would soon set and dusk would be upon them, so the pair hurried. 

At the top, Snorkmaiden sat with a small blush adorning her cheeks and a sleepy Little My curled in her lap. The snork was carding her fingers through the mymble’s hair, which was out of its wild ponytail. Snufkin didn’t know if that was a normal occurrence or not. 

“This sure is a sight.” Moomintroll said, grabbing a few more clothes to put in his arms. Snorkmaiden jumped, bringing Little My back into the world of the living. 

“Well, look who's back. Dumb and dumbest.” Little My bit back. 

“Who’s dumber?” Snorkmaiden asked. 

“Sniff, but he’s not here right now.” She stretched, her back popping and her tail curled upwards. “Did you find everything?” She said as she was pulling her hair back into it’s tight knot.

“We believe so,” Snufkin piqued up. 

“Even if it’s not, it’s getting dark and Junior needs these clothes as much as we need to get home.” 

“Snorkmaiden, always the voice of reason.” Little My grabbed a bundle of clothes up to the tip of her head, and Snufkin grabbed a few off the top so she could see. “Thanks, short stack.” 

Snufkin grabbed one more piece of clothing from their pile, leaving the rest to Snorkmaiden, who took it with no issue. “You have no room to say that, lil’ one.”   
She tried chomping down on his knee, but he moved out of the way with expertise. 

Snorkmaiden shuffled her clothes around in her arms. “Now, let’s head out!” 

Moomintroll snickered. “Aye-aye, captain.” 

As a group, they made their way deeper into the woods and up the Lonely Mountains. Snufkin had heard rumors growing up about the mountains. How travelers went missing and how there were cruel monsters lurking in the shadow of every rock and cave. 

They made their way up without incident. 

The cottage was small and painted a rich auburn color with pops of tan and blue strewn about. There were lonely clothing lines to it’s left and a shed to it’s right, but it didn’t look very used. Insides, lamps were lit and the smell of fresh pastries was wafting out of a window. 

Snufkin wanted to leave. 

Before he was able to lay the clothes down and throw himself off the cliff face, the door opened and a tall, slender redhead bounced out the door. Her face was flushed and a frilly dress chased after her. When she got close enough, Snufkin was able to see freckles coating her face and a small gap between her front two teeth. 

“Oh, thank Groke! You all made it here right in time. Too-Ticky is supposed to be here any minute, and I don’t want her to find out about the clothes.” She took a few out of Snorkmaiden’s paws before letting out a sigh. 

“What happened to the clothes, lov’?” 

Moomintroll screamed, whipping around in fright.

Junior put one of her paws on Moomintroll’s shoulder, giving her wife a worried chuckle. “Oh, nothing! Nothing happened, I promise.” 

The Too-Ticky in front of him was nothing like what Snufkin saw on the boat. This one was much shorter, though still taller than Snufkin and Snorkmaiden. She was plump and had shoes nowhere to be found. She had a blissful smile on her face and a fishing rod on one shoulder. 

“Oh, there’s no reason to fret, darlin. I’m sure it’s nothing.” 

Junior bit her lip and walked in front of Moomintroll just slightly. “The clothes I put out to dry last night blew away during the storm, so I asked the kids to fetch them for me before you came back home from your fishing trip.” 

Too-Ticky blinked once, twice, before letting out a pleasant laugh and kissing her wife on the mouth. “You did nothing wrong, lov’, and you have nothin to hide from me. You’re still my pure dead brilliant Mymble.” Junior looked like she was about to melt, but both Little My and Snufkin looked like they were about to vomit. Moomintroll and Snorkmaiden were a hair’s breadth away from awing everyone to death. 

Before anyone could combust, Little My broke them apart. “Yeah, yeah, you’re all mushy and in love. We get it. Now please take these clothes, Mymbs, my arms are exhausted.” 

Junior brought her paw to her chest and let out an exclaimed, “Oh, of course. Sorry, Lil Mymbs.” 

“You should be. My presence is a luxury few can afford.” 

The four of them brought the clothes inside to be cleaned up by Junior once again. This time around, however, she would keep a closer eye on them. 

Snufkin let out a sigh as Too-Ticky asked, “Are they stayin for dinner?” 

What were with Too-Tickies and getting in his way?

“I can’t, actually. I’ve got to get back to my tent before it gets dark. I’ve already left it for too long and the Creeps really enjoy stealing belongings sometimes.” Moomintroll looked a bit put off by the news. 

For the first time since they arrived, Junior looked like she finally noticed him. She looked him up and down and deep into his eyes before looking at his hat for just a tad too long. “Have we met before?” 

Snufkin swallowed hard, “No, I don’t believe I have.” 

Her eyebrows scrunched together, her mouth slightly agape. “Are you sure?” 

“Yes, I’m positive.” Snufkin whipped off his tunic before heading to the door. “Cheerio.” 

“Ah!” Moomintroll said, his ears swirling to behind his head. “Wait, Snufkin!” 

Snufkin turned to him, the door already opened and one foot already out. “Yes, Moomintroll?” 

The prince swallowed before he said. “Stay safe out there. Don’t let the Groke nip.” 

He blinked at the saying. It was mostly one used for children as a form of endearment. “The same to you, dear fellow.” 

He closed the door and made his way down the mountain at a quick pace. 

The mymbles were certain to be the death of him, and if not them, then his fate would definitely fall into the paws of Moomintroll.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hh thank you for reading and commenting if you did

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading; I already have half of the second chapter done and it should be posted next week since high school kicks ass. 
> 
> If you want the characters' ages, then I might put them in the next chapter's notes, I have no idea. The next chapter will also have much more dialogue since this was only the set up. 
> 
> Also, thank you to all of my friends that read this before I had the balls to actually put it out there


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